Draco Black
by nonoctemolke
Summary: After having been forced to fight for the Dark side Draco leaves for the muggle world a year after the final battle. With basically no knowledge about muggles and their habits he now has to cope with living amongst them. slightly AU obviously.
1. Chapter 1: Taxi Drive

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter in any way or form. It belongs to J. K. Rowling. (I own a book set but I don't think that counts, so no. I don't own Harry Potter.) And I'm not making profit with this story either.

**Warnings:** Well, not much so far, but I guess I should probably put 'minor language' in here for later chapters.

**AN: **Not sure if I should've put this under warnings but anyway: this is (obviously) going to be slightly AU, and it's not going to be a slash-story. (I have nothing against slash, but I just can't see this story going that way. I'm not even sure if there will be any major romance - it focuses more on how Draco copes in the muggle world.)

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His decision to leave had been final. Even though he had fought for the Light in the Battle of Hogwarts – and he had been seen by many who later witnessed for him – he was still shunned for being a (former) Death-eater, a Malfoy and Voldemort's right-hand-man's son.

To most people it only mattered that he had helped the Dark Side. It did not matter to them that he had been imperio'd to allow the Death Eaters entrance to Hogwarts – he had fought against the curse, which is why it had taken so long until he finally got that cabinet restored. At the same time he had also been imperio'd to kill Dumbledore, but fought that order, too. If he really would have wanted the old man dead, he'd been dead within a day or two. He would have never used such botched up strategies where so much could go wrong (And went wrong). But in the end… he had failed and led the Death Eaters into Hogwarts. And if Severus hadn't interfered he most likely would have ended up killing the old man.

As soon as his task was completed and the curse was fulfilled and consequently lifted, he had turned on the Dark side and fought for the Light. But his help wasn't enough to and the Light still lost that Battle.  
His changing sides on the other hand resulted in Lucius getting more creative in his curses to subdue Draco – Draco was practically possessed by Lucius during the following year.

After the final battle he finished his N.E.W.T.s – luckily his classmates knew about him being cursed at the time and they had, well, not forgiven him and it surely wasn't forgotten, but they looked past it or at least they tried to. They all avoided him, yes, but at least they left him alone. The normal population and the press on the other hand… They wanted his head on a silver platter. Rita Skeeter was especially creative with her explanations for him changing sides. According to her last article, it had been on a whim because apparently he had a crush on the Boy-Who-Lived.

He had hugged Harry, out of gratitude, _once_ because the guy had stood up for him since Potter could relate to having the press print made-up stories about oneself. Draco might not have been the most touchy-feely person but to be accused of having a crush because of one short hug was a bit much on the other hand, who was he kidding – it was obvious that Skeeter had used her Quick-Quote-Quill again and those things always wrote things over the top. He remembered how she had written an article about Mrs Parkinson when he was ten – Skeeter accused her of having an affair because she shook some random guy's hand. (Pansy had been miserable because of the naturally following rumours)

In the end it was that article that convinced him to go through with his plan to leave the wizarding world behind and start anew. He had enough of all the gossip and the rumours and the scorn. He could deal with anger over things he'd actually done but he refused to be deal with judgments passed over things he didn't.

Draco Malfoy was well aware that he knew next to nothing about muggles and that he would have to ignore all prejudiced notions he might have, but he figured that everything was better than the life he was living now. He couldn't understand how he once had thought that Potter enjoyed his fame. Being well known was a curse, nothing else.

And so, on a normal October night, a year after the end of the war, he left for the muggle world.

He had spent quite some time in the last year to prepare himself for the possibility of leaving and he had all of his (forged) legal papers ready. He would be known as Draco Black – he was using the maiden name of his mother. He left his birthday and his appearance the same. He didn't want the hassle of getting used to another birthday. The more things he had to lie about, the higher the risk he slipped up. . And while he had considered using a glamour but that would not be practical – not in the long run. A glamour only worked for a limited amount of time – much like polyjuice potion. It did work for more than an hour, a glamour could be used for up to a week but then it had to be renewed. And he couldn't bring himself to colour his hair with a potion – call him vain if you like, but he'd rather not end with black hair permanently. Though he knew he was exaggerating, it was a fact that his hair colour would permanently darken if he used potions on it – the only disadvantage platinum hair had.

So it was Draco Black that, with a trunk in one hand, a cage with a snake in the other and a few muggle banknotes in his pocket, waved for a cab. Inwardly he sneered at the thought how similar the knight bus and muggle cabs were, before he caught himself. And then he cursed himself because he would have to try to blend in and, more importantly, he could not afford to be condescending. He would have to live like a muggle now. Draco sighed.

The cab driver loaded his trunk into the car trunk but refused to touch the cage. Rolling his eyes Draco loaded it into the car trunk himself. "Don't worry. She doesn't bite." 'Much' he added in his thoughts. 'And she is not that poisonous.' His driver closed the trunk and asked for the address. After telling the driver the address of his soon to be (or rather starting today's) shared flat or rather shared house, he climbed into the car.  
"You'll have to fasten your seat-belt, mate, otherwise I can't drive you. Safety regulations, you know?" Seat-belt? Fasten? What was the man talking about? Draco blinked at him and the other guy indicated the belt that was strapping him into the car seat. "Oh, right. Sorry." 'Now, how the hell does this work? Oh. That was easy.' Within a moment, Draco had fastened his seatbelt and they started driving.

"Had a bad day, mate? You look like hell, no offense." Draco stared at the muggle. Where the hell did that git get off to talk to him like… 'Relax' he reminded himself. 'Breathe and calm down. You're no Malfoy anymore. You're no longer part of the elite. And since you have chosen to become one of the common people, deal with people treating you like one.' Instead of yelling at the muggle he took a deep breath and nodded. "You could say that."  
"Do you want to talk about it? Many people do during a drive – I could double as a psychologist." The guy winked at him but Draco had no idea what a psychologist was so he ignored that part of the offer.

"I'm kind of… running away from home."  
"Oh. Sorry to hear that, mate. Lover's spat?" Draco spluttered. "WHAT? NO! No… I just… I need a change of place. Where I used to live… Everyone had these notions of who I am, you know. But that person wasn't me. Turns out the only guy who really knew me is a guy that hates my guts. Oh, the irony of life." Draco laughed mirthlessly. "There were a few who tried, but most people… They judged because of my father and I couldn't stand it any longer so I left." Draco had no idea why he had just spilled his guts to a complete stranger.

His driver was quiet for a couple of moments and when he answered he spoke softly. "I am sorry to hear that. It must have been hard. To be judged for something you have no control of whatsoever. I hope you can start over." He smiled in a friendly way. "A friend of mine… His father is in prison for sexual assault… He had to quit his job at a children's home because people were afraid he'd turn out like his dad. Of course that wasn't the official reason, they fabricated one, but everyone knew what it really was about. And yet, I never knew a nicer guy than him."  
Draco smiled sadly. 'Well, I sure as hell wasn't nice. I know that. But still, in no way other than appearance was I like the old man.'

They drove on in silence for a good ten minutes before Draco almost timidly asked "I know, it's none of my business and probably a foolish question, but… how did you become a cab driver?"  
The other man laughed. "You know, I think you're the first client that asked me that. By the way I'm Mark."  
"Draco."  
"Nice to meet you. Now, back to your question." Mark shrugged. "It wasn't exactly my first choice but I needed money, I can drive a car and there was an opening in the cab service of my hometown. I jobbed there during my last year of school, three evenings a week. Shortly after that my boss retired and closed his cab service. But he referred me to a friend here in London who also owned a cab business. And here I am. It's nothing I would have imagined myself to do for a living permanently but it's better than nothing." He shrugged. "It may not pay me much but I get to meet some quite interesting people. Just last week I drove this gorgeous elder woman who looked like a mix of Sigourney Weaver and Mary McDonnell." Draco had no idea what that mix would entail and again he ignored it. He guessed the two names belonged to females but who they were or why he would know them was beyond him.  
"Or a few months ago, I drove this really strange fellow. He was wearing a magenta suit, can you imagine? Anyway, he was annoyed that I wasn't driving fast enough for his liking and apparently he was already late so I pointed out that I was driving a cab and not a DeLorean. And the guy asked me what a DeLorean was supposed to be! I mean, sure, one doesn't have to know the reference, but at least, one should know what a DeLorean is, don't you agree?"  
"Yeah… Right, sure." Draco had no idea what he was agreeing to. What the hell was a DeLorean and why was it so important that everyone had to know what it was? Was it something muggles needed to survive or some contraption they used in every-day-life like a toaster or… or a floppy disk? Inwardly he groaned as he yet again realised that he knew practically nothing about muggles and was most likely as helpless as a new-born in their world.

Mark grinned. "Aaand, there we are. That would be 20 pounds fifty." Draco nodded. "Just a second." He fiddled with his money – which was which, again? What was worth how much? He already missed the familiarity of galleons, sickles and knuts - at least they had made sense to him. Now, for the life of him, he couldn't figure out the difference between paper pieces. They all looked the same to him. He sighed and gave Mark what he thought were 20.50 pounds.  
"Err, check over it, please. I can't see them too well in this light." He lied.  
Mark counted the money and nodded. "It's the correct amount." He smiled and left the car to empty his trunk. This time he – carefully – grabbed the cage to remove it, too.  
"Well, it was a pleasure to meet you, Draco. I hope you can make a new start here."  
Draco smiled – his first real smile in ages. "Thank you, Mark. It was a pleasure meeting you, too."  
Mark nodded towards him for one last time and then drove off.

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**AN2:** I hope you liked it.  
If it's no good or if I set the rating too high or something like that then I'm sorry, it is the first story I published here and I'm consequently quite new to this. :)  
On another note, I want to thank nerviges-beta-das-nicht-nervig-ist (german for annoying-beta-that's-not-annoying) for her help.


	2. Chapter 2: First Meeting I

**AN: **Not sure what I'm supposed to say to this chapter, Warnings and Disclaimer are in the first.  
And I think the title is pretty much self-explanatory.

* * *

Draco gulped. Now came the really scary part. He was about to enter the proverbial lion's den – not the Gryffindor common room, mind you, but his new home. At least it would be his home temporarily. He was here for a probational period to see if he fit with his new roommates.

He had found the house through a real estate agent that specialised in properties in both the wizarding and muggle world. He had told the guy to find him a flat share or something similar in the muggle part of the London suburbs. Draco had given his 'new' name to the agent and sworn him to secrecy to make sure no one would be able to connect 'Draco Black' to 'Draco L. Malfoy'.

He clenched the piece of paper that was about to be the key to his new place to stay. From what he'd been able to gather during their written correspondence, he would be bunking with two girls and another guy. Apparently two of the former inhabitants had become a couple and decided to move in together – alone – and so far they had found only one replacement – him. He was supposed to move in for a month to see if they were compatible and if yes, he'd stay.

Taking a deep breath, he rung the thing muggles called a 'bell' (a contraption that they had instead of wards to alarm them of a visitor). He was not scared of what was to come, no he was a Malfoy. Malfoys didn't do scared! He had to admit that he was a bit wary, though.

The door opened and a grinning, pig-tailed girl about 20 years of age, squealed "You must be Draco!" and hugged him tight before ushering him inside. "Come in, come in."  
Draco was sure that he must have looked ridiculous in that moment for he was sure that shock was written all over his face. He scolded himself. A Malfoy did not show shock, not even if he was hugged by someone he had never met before (in person). He schooled his face back into an indifferent but polite mask. "Hello. And Yes, I'm Draco." The girl grinned widely and dragged him into the foyer.

A deep laugh answered her antics. "Sorry about Melinda. She's just excited. I'm Glen by the way. And Lynn, do calm down, you don't want to scare him off, he hasn't even been here for five minutes."  
"Fine." The girl – Melinda? Lynn? – pouted and let go of his arm. "Sorry." She added sheepishly. "I just had too much Coke." Again, Draco had no idea what she was talking about but didn't comment on it.

"Well, let's get you to your room then, shall we?" asked Glen and took the suitcase from Draco and led the way.  
"Nice snake." Lynn grinned. "What's its name?"  
"Myrtle. Her name's Myrtle." To this day, Draco was not sure what possessed him to name his pet after the moaning Myrtle. But he had done it and, if he were honest, he'd do it again.  
"Interesting name." Glen raised an eye-brow. "Named after a girl?"  
Draco snorted. "That depends on what exactly you call a girl."  
"Oh. So she's named after a woman?"  
Draco laughed. "No. Definitely not!"

"Well, anyway. This is going to be your room, I hope it's okay."  
Draco nodded. The room was smaller than the smallest of his rooms back in Malfoy Manor, but after living in a dormitory at school he was sure it'd do just fine.

"Well. Chris left the furniture behind, so, if you want, you can keep that, or if you don't, you can refurnish your room."  
Draco shook his head. "No, this is fine." 'At least this way I'll have a normal room… I wouldn't know what the normal inventory of a muggle bedroom was supposed to be like.'

"Alrighty." Lynn took over. "There's a phone in the foyer, and we've got internet, LAN and Wi-Fi, so you can choose. It's included in the rent." Draco had no idea what she was talking about. What was internet? Lan? Wifi? He had never heard those terms before. Merlin, he was going to make a fool out of himself and he didn't like it one bit! But somehow he managed to keep his politely indifferent mask in place.

"You do have a computer, don't you?"  
Draco shook his head. "Err, no."  
Lynn stared at him gobsmacked and even Glen seemed surprised. "Oh. Hmm. Well, I guess you won't need internet then. Do you have a cell phone?"  
Draco took a guess and decided that a cell phone had to be something like a telephone, which was – as far as he knew – the muggle equivalent to fire calling. Again he shook his head. "No."  
Lynn blinked. "Gods! How did you even survive? We'll have to get you a cell phone at least!"  
"Lynn! Behave yourself! Sorry, Draco. She doesn't always think before she speaks." Glen apologized and Lynn seemed embarrassed.  
"No, it's ok." He smiled sadly.

This was not going well. He was definitely out of his depth but he refused to show his confusion. At the same time, inside, his anger was boiling. Anger at himself, the muggles in his presence, Rita Skeeter, the unfairness and hell, even at that mudbl… He stopped that thought. Granger, not mudblood, he reminded himself. You're a muggle now. Still, for some reason unbeknownst to him he was angry at her, because he felt in no way prepared for all this, and even though she had been thrown into the wizarding world like he had been thrown in the muggle one now; but in her case her disorientation was expected and easily dealt with. In his case though… He could not show his confusion at 'normal' things, because that would raise questions. He really felt like making the golden trio loose house points by taunting them in front of Snape right about now, but sadly, that was no longer a possibility.

Lynn and Glen picked up on his sad smile and looked at each other rather uncomfortably. "Well." Glen cleared his throat. "Do you want to unpack first or a tour of the house?"  
Draco started. "Err, tour, please." He scowled at himself.

Lynn flinched at his scowl. "Right…"  
"Well, if you'd follow us." They showed him around the house. "The room next to yours is mine. On the left of my room is our bathroom. Sorry, but we'll have to share. Down the hall are the kitchen, our living slash common room and a toilet. Upstairs are Lynn's room at the end of the hallway, next to it is Cassie's room, then the girl's bathroom and what at the moment is our guestroom. Downstairs is the cellar with a storage room, our laundry room and a party room of sorts. Ah, I forgot. The living room opens to a patio and our small garden."  
Draco smiled – relieved, for there was no missing vocabulary this time. He nodded in understanding.

Lynn grinned at him, again. "Well, then we'll leave you to unpack. Just see to it that you're finished by 8 o'clock, we wanted to throw you a little welcoming party after Cassie comes home from work."  
Draco nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Another question. Is Myrtle poisonous?" Glen asked rather shyly.  
Draco shrugged. "Define poisonous. While she definitely is poisonous, she's not deadly. To humans, her poison is just numbing temporarily. Like a painkiller or something similar. And I milk her regularly so there should be no problem. And I can …" Draco stopped abruptly. He had been about to say 'ward my room, so she can't leave it'. But he was amongst muggles. He groaned inwardly. "And I keep her either on me or in her cage normally."  
Glen nodded. "Well, as long as she's not poisonous and doesn't bite" 'much' thought Draco. "then I wouldn't mind her running free either. But you'd have to ask the girls about that."  
Draco blinked in surprise while Lynn seemed uncomfortable. And Draco declined. "Thanks, but I think I'll keep her in her cage, at least until she is used to all of you." Lynn instantly relaxed and the two finally left Draco alone.

Draco closed the door, put a silencing charm on it and let out a frustrated scream. He wanted to strangle someone. He'd even strangle himself for his idiocy at trying something so obviously impossible. He fumed. He knew muggle manners differed from wizarding ones but still. How dare they call him Draco just like that! How dare they treat him with so much familiarity? They had no right! They should be thankful to be able to even breathe the same air he… No. Draco forced himself to calm down. 'You're one of them now', he reminded himself. 'Not some rich wizard from an old pureblood family. You are a muggle now.' And suddenly he felt disgusted with himself for even considering the notion to step so low. He was better than all this and he… again, Draco forced himself to relax.

For the next few minutes he just focused on his breathing and meditated for a while before he started to put his things away the muggle way. It was humiliating to have to do it without magic for the first time in six years. He sighed. 'You choose this. It is still an evil but it is the lesser of two. And even if you humiliate yourself in front of them, you can always learn and then move on. In the muggle world you're free.' Finally he relaxed. No more Rita Skeeter. No more false press. No more discrimination for being his father's son.

He placed the cage on his desk and took out Myrtle, who climbed his arm and settled around his neck and she hissed contently when he stroked her. "Was this really such a good idea?" he wondered out loud.

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**AN:** Thanks for Reading.


	3. Chapter 3: First Meeting II: Dinner

**Disclaimer&Warnings: **are in the first chapter.

**AN:** I'd like to remind all of you, that this is not going to be slash. Even if it some may suspect that because of a certain scene in this chapter - it's not.  
On another note, I plan on updating weekly - I hope I manage to do so with upcoming exams and everything, but I think I should be fine. The next three or four chapters are already written and until then, the whole exams induced stress should be over.  
On with the story...:

* * *

The welcoming party turned out to be dinner and watching a movie afterwards. Dinner went without incidents. Lynn and Cassiopeia or Cassie had decided on some simple spaghetti and it was actually quite delicious. Not up to the standard of house-elves but he guessed that for a muggle made meal it was really good.

After a short initial introduction they sat down and ate in relative silence apart from "pass the salt" and similar orders. Afterwards they settled into the living room to watch a DVD and Draco watched closely which buttons to press and which lecticial(1) wands to use. He wasn't sure about the leciticial part though, he didn't remember what that substitute of 'magic' was called. The moving pictures surprised him a bit, because their sequences were definitely longer than those of wizarding pictures. But he had been able to hide his surprise and had found out that a movie seemed to be a novel in form of moving pictures. Quite an interesting idea, actually.

After the movie they relaxed in the living room with a bottle of wine to get to know each other.  
Glen looked around and when no one volunteered any questions, he decided to start.  
"Well, Draco, where are you from?"  
Draco flinched. He had no idea how to answer that question. Malfoy Manor was unplottable, besides, it wasn't in a county known to muggles. And the only other home he ever had was…  
"Scotland. What about you three?"  
"Greece and then London Soho." Cassie.  
"America. I lived in New York until recently." Lynn.  
"Scotland and Wales… And of course, London." Glen.  
Draco nodded. "Any siblings?"  
"No." "Nope, Just me." "Yes, a little brother." The last answer came from Cassie. "You?"  
Draco shook his head. "No." 'Luckily. I would wish my father on no one."

The questions about their favourite colour, book, pastime and so on went well for a while (with Draco pretending to know some unknown words) until Glen approached a question Draco had been praying to avoid. "What about your parents? What do they do for a living?"  
Draco flinched visibly and tensed. The look in his eyes was positively hostile. "Next question." He growled and tried to control his temper.  
The three others exchanged wary glances. "Right. Sorry… That bad, huh?" Lynn tried to joke.  
"I just got away from them, I do not wish to talk about them." Draco stated quietly but with an eerie finality in his voice. 'Well, I got away from there shadows more like. Fath… no, Lucius is in Azkaban and mother, well, she seems to be a permanent guest of 's now. A pity that she lost her marbles when her husband was sent to Azkaban yet I cannot feel grief for her loss, not even for the loss of her.'

An uncomfortable silence had fallen. The others did not know what to ask now, or how to react…  
"Look. I left to get away from them. So could we please not talk about them and change the topic?" Draco snapped. It nearly killed him to ask; begging was supposed to be beneath him. He probably didn't sound like he was begging rather like he was ordering them but at the moment he didn't care. Even if he had to leave for his behaviour, he wouldn't care as long as he got around talking about them.

Glen cleared his throat. He seemed to realize that Draco was just lashing out because he felt uncomfortable. "Sure. I guess those were enough questions for now. How about we discuss our rules for living here?" It was more like a statement than a question.  
Draco nodded. "Thanks."

Cassie let out a relieved breath. "Right. So. Anyway. Our rules: No entering closed doors without knocking first. No entering any of our rooms without permission. The two bathrooms are separated by gender, and you have no business in ours, got it?"  
Draco nodded. "Makes sense."  
"Or not." Glen sighed.  
He frowned. "Why not?"  
"Cause…" Glen stared at his feet. "'Cause I'm gay."

Draco stared at him. "So…?" What did that have to do with anything?  
"Err, well, most guys would feel uncomfortable…" Cassie provided.  
Now he was confused. "What has him being gay got to do with me?" Being gay was perfectly normal, wasn't it? Not that he was, but most people he knew back 'home' had been bi. The gender didn't really matter, why would it if it didn't matter what species a couple was made of?

The other three stared at him. "Well… Nothing, I guess. But… well, most guys would feel uncomfortable…" Okay, apparently it was different for muggles. And, obviously, he had messed up with his reaction somehow. But he couldn't change that now.  
"Right… Well, I don't. I used to live in a dorm… in my year was at least one gay guy, and I suspected two others." He shrugged.

Blaise had definitely been gay and he had always suspected Crabbe and Goyle to be dating, though he figured that they were together because they had no chance with anyone else. After all, they were neither good-looking nor intelligent.

Glen seemed relieved. The girls just seemed to be surprised.  
"You suspected them?"  
He laughed. "Yes, well, they were pretty inseparable."

Then he looked thoughtful. Probably he shouldn't argue like that, he had hung out with them quite a lot over the years. They'd been his minions after all. The weasel had even gone as far as calling them the Slytherin silver trio once.

Glen raised a brow. "If that was the only indication…" Draco rolled his eyes.  
"Why did you think that it would be a problem for me?" Draco asked. To his surprise, he sounded annoyed.  
"Well, like they said, it is a problem for many people, especially other guys." Glen shrugged. "And even those who have nothing against gays are often not comfortable being in close vicinity with one of his own gender."  
Draco snorted. "I think I'll survive. After all I managed to survive Blaise' harassment for nearly seven years." He winked. "You can't be worse." That comment made his roommates laugh. Lynn was crying of laughter for some reason that was beyond him and Cassie just grinned. "Well, I've never seen him harass anyone but I guess it would be quite a sight."  
"Hey! I don't harass people!" Glen sounded indignant but the others just continued laughing.  
"Then I don't see why I should have to worry." Draco smiled and then yawned. "Anyway I think I'll turn in for the night, unless there are any more rules I'd have to know about?"

"Well, those were the most important rules. But we have certain kitchen rules, too. Dishes, flour and spices can be used by everyone, but other than that, each of us has their own compartment. You'll have to mark things that need to go into the fridge, anything unmarked can be used by anyone."  
Draco nodded. "Okay."  
"Well, that's mostly it. Glen and you have to talk about rules for your shared bathroom yourselves but other than that, I think we're finished for now."  
"We can talk about the bathroom tomorrow, if you want."  
Draco nodded. "I'd appreciate it." That sentence nearly made him gag, even more so because it was the truth. "Well then, good night."  
A chorus of 'Night's followed him out.

Draco retired to his room and locked the door – manually, for the first time in his life. Pretending to be nice and normal was exhausting but he refused to continue acting the way his… Lucius had raised him to act. He refused to turn out like the bastard. But it was hard, he had no idea how to act around muggles. And there was no guidebook to it either – not that such garbage would be of any use. He sighed and plopped down on his bed. Looking back, he regretted that he hadn't attended Muggle Studies – yet, even now, he still wouldn't be caught dead attending such a course. He groaned and cursed himself for going in blind.

The evening had gone surprisingly well, there hadn't been too many problems with words he didn't know – apart from in and around the movie – but he was able to smooth it over. He just listened intently to what they said and watched what they did to watch the movie and during the movie he just ignored all the little gadgets, references and words that didn't make any sense to him. But he had the distinct feeling that tomorrow would be different.

* * *

**AN: **I'm sorry if it's a bit short, but this chapter didn't seem to want to be any longer.  
(1) Just to clarify this, "lecticial" is just Draco being unable to remember the word "electrical". So, if anyone was confused by this, no you don't have to worry about your vocabulary - as far as I know that word doesn't exist (at least not outside Draco's mind - or mine.) ;-)  
**  
**Lastly, I want to thank my "nerviges beta" again. Without her, this story wouldn't have made it online.


	4. Chapter4:Shopping and other Catastrophes

**Warnings&Disclaimer: **not much changed in that department... I do not own Harry Potter in any way or form, neither am I making money with this. I'm merely borrowing J. K. Rowling's characters and places while writing this just for the fun of it.  
Still no slash, and maybe there will be a bit of swearing later.  
**AN:** Hello again :) Not sure what to say, so let's skip the annoying monologue and get on with the story!

* * *

The next morning he was ripped out of bed by yelling in the hall. From what he could gather, Cassie was looking for something mobile, whatever that was, and it seemed to be necessary for her survival if the panic in her voice was any indication. He opened his bleary eyes and cursed muggles for not being able to use a simple _accio_. Did they have to make that much racket this early in the morning? He blinked. It was too bright to be early in the morning. He muttered a _tempus_ charm under his breath – the charm was a low-level charm, so he wouldn't be reprimanded for using it in muggle London. To his surprise, it was half past ten in the morning. He hadn't slept in that long since he was five – apart from the time he spent in the hospital wing.

Sighing he dragged himself out of bed and got dressed. Then he entered the hall only to be run over by Cassie.  
"OY! Watch it!"  
Cassiopeia cursed. "Sorry, sorry! You okay?" She helped him up and looked apologetic in his scowling face. Without another word, he returned in his rooms, grabbed his utensils and went to his bathroom to take a cold shower to wake up properly. After he got dressed he returned to his rooms to look after Myrtle. With the snake draped around his neck he entered the kitchen to get a glass of water.

"Morning, sleepyhead." A grinning Lynn greeted him. "And good morning to you, too, Myrtle." She smiled. "I hope Cassie didn't wake you. She needs her cell for work." Draco was confused. She needed a cell? He thought she had searched for something mobile, as far as he knew a prison cell or some room similar wasn't mobile, especially not in the muggle world.  
Lynn seemed to notice his confusion. "Her cell phone. She needs it for work."  
Draco nodded, still unsure but he took a wild guess that a cell phone was probably some sort of a mobile telephone, which would explain the difference in the things Cassie had apparently searched for. Most likely there was no difference.

He searched for a glass, filled it at the sink and sipped it while Lynn was watching him. "You're a strange fellow." She smiled thoughtful.  
"I'm no Lovegood." He mumbled.  
"What? Did you say something?"  
Draco shook his head. "Nah. So, where are shops around here? And what kind of shops are there?"  
Lynn's smile turned into a predatory grin. "You want to go shopping?"  
Draco shrugged. "Well, yes."  
"When?"  
"Today?"  
"Cool!" Lynn suddenly jumped out of her seat. "Then let's go!"

Draco had no idea where she'd gotten the notion that he wanted her to tag along but he figured it was okay – she could help him with clothes, he had no idea what muggles would wear. And she could probably help him when he didn't know something. He sighed. If he were honest, he rather thought that he would end up getting dragged around by her and accompanying her shopping. But he would take whatever he could get.

When Lynn dragged him out he barely had time to grab his moneybag and return Myrtle to her cage.  
"What do you need to buy?"  
"Clothes. Food. And… according to you, a cell phone, I guess."  
She laughed. "What kind of a cell do you need?"  
He shrugged. "No idea. I never owned one, so I wouldn't know."  
"What?" Her eyes nearly bugged out at his statement. "You never owned a cell?"  
Okay, apparently he had just said something he shouldn't have. He cursed. "Never." He answered quietly while staring at his feet.  
"Oh… God, sorry! I didn't… I didn't mean to… Err, well, sorry." Lynn seemed uncomfortable. "Well, I guess that a normal prepaid phone should suffice for a start. I doubt you'll need one that is able to do more than calling and messaging. It should come cheap."  
Draco smiled warily. He was definitely out of his depth.  
"Let's just go looking for clothes first. Do you have any preferences?"  
He shrugged. "They should look good and have at least a certain standard of quality."  
She sighed. "Right. Now that narrows it down…" she murmured and then cleared her throat. "How much can they cost? How much money are you willing to pay?"  
He shrugged.

Lynn showed him a few shops with differing styles, qualities and prices and he decided to go back to the third she showed him. It certainly wasn't cheap but it also wasn't too expensive and he liked the feel of the clothes – it reminded him of the robes he used to own. He wasn't sure about which colours to mix but he wasn't "aristocracy" for nothing. He had a natural style (at least according to Lynn).

But the amount of money he spent seemed to have shocked her. He would have to watch that. He had had no real sense for money – especially the muggle currency meant nothing to him. And he never had to watch his money before – not that he needed to, now, but he should probably pretend. He didn't want to do anything to raise questions he couldn't answer without going into topics he didn't want to touch.

"Where to next?" He asked trying to distract her.  
"Cell phone store." And with that he dragged her somewhere a few blocks away. Inside the shop, he told her to choose a phone for him since he had no idea what was considered good and what bad quality, what 'abilities' his cell would need to have and so on. In the end she made him buy a phone that only had the most necessary applications. And she offered to give him a crash-course when they returned home.

On their way home she showed him to a few supermarkets and department stores in the vicinity of their home. Again she seemed to be shocked by the amount of money he spent. But he couldn't change that now. He was annoyed. The world was unfair. He had no one he could ask for help. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't afford for anyone to know where he hid. And he couldn't ask those muggles because that would only lead to too many questions. His life still sucked.

After they returned home, he went and put his new-bought things away before Lynn dragged him into the living room to explain about cell phones. He didn't understand everything she said but to him it seemed like messaging was like sending charmed notes and calling was very much like fire-calling. The phone number was the equivalent of telling the floo-network or an owl where to go. Still, the concept seemed a lot more important to muggles than to wizards. From what she told him, it was normal to make several calls every day no matter if it was something important or not and it was the same with messaging – he really didn't see the use in that. Especially not when she sent him a test-message that just said 'hi'.

He retired to his room and lay down on the bed to read a book with Myrtle draped around his head. He had charmed the book to look like a book about mathematics to everyone else before he left but in reality it was a book about muggles. It was not exactly reliable but it was better than nothing. It explained only about the absolutely necessary stuff the rest was wild speculation that he ignored. But there was a good explanation about muggle money in it which he had decided to re-read.

According to the book he had spent way too much money today. He cursed. Really, he couldn't even last one day without messing up. He suddenly felt the urge to terrorize someone to help himself relax. The only problem was… there was no one around to terrorize. And his mood just dropped even more. It was getting hard to force himself to stay put and try to relax. But he needed to rein in his temper.

Later he decided to try to do something productive and went to the kitchen to make himself something to eat.  
He was chopping like an obsessed madman bent over a corpse when Glen entered the kitchen to get some bread rolls.  
"Whoa! Who are you trying to kill?"  
Draco was scowling at Glen and the guy raised his hands in peace. "Easy there. I was just joking." He eyed Draco. "Do you want to talk about it?" He sounded concerned.  
"No." Draco growled. He did not want to talk about how messed up his life was, he did not want to out himself as an idiot – and an idiot he must seem to them.

Glen looked worried. "Look, I get that you don't want to talk about it. But that's no reason to have my head for offering to listen." Despite the worried look he sounded angry and Draco flinched.  
"Sorry. I … I didn't mean to." Part of Draco was berating himself for apologizing to a 'lowly muggle' while another was pressing him to explain his behaviour. "It's just… I don't know." He had no idea how to explain his situation. So he tried to explain the part he could actually talk about without outing himself as a wizard.

"It's just… remember yesterday… when Cassiopeia asked about my parents? The reason I'm here is because I wanted to get away from them. Or, more accurately, I wanted to escape their shadows and start over."  
Glen nodded, thoughtful. "Yes… you said something like that yesterday."  
"Yeah… I can't say it's working. Earlier when Lynn and I were shopping, I realised once again that I am my father's son – and I sure as hell don't want to be!" He scowled.  
"Well… I can't say that I understand the feeling – I have a good relationship with my dad – but think about it, the fact that you don't want to be your father's son means that you're different from him." He smiled encouragingly.  
"Thanks." Draco blinked in surprise. If he were honest, he had needed to hear that. But he couldn't bring himself to acknowledge the fact.  
Glen nodded. "If you ever want to talk about it, you know where to find me." He looked at the amount of vegetables Draco had chopped. "Are you planning on feeding an armada?"  
"Huh? What? Oh." Draco stared at his process and blushed. "Erm. No. just trying to get rid of the negative feelings somehow." He sighed. "Now what do I do with all that... Is there a possibility that I can make dinner for all of us tonight?"  
"You can cook?"  
"Well… I guess. Nothing special but it'll do I hope." He wasn't a bad cook but he was nowhere near the level of house-elves.  
Glen beamed. "Cool. I'll tell the others. We haven't had a decent self-cooked meal in ages – none of us can cook. Remember to never let Lynn near the stove. She'd burn the house down."  
Draco grinned. "Anything I have to look out for? Likes or dislikes?"  
Glen shook his head. "No. Do whatever you want. There shouldn't be a problem, none of us have any allergies."  
He blinked. Muggles could be allergic to food? With magic folk allergies were nearly non-existent but the only ones he knew where allergies to certain volatile potion ingredients or some spells. And even then the only reactions were different skin-colours for a certain amount of time, normally. To be allergic to food must suck.

While Glen seemingly made a few fire, err, phone calls to tell the others about their dinner arrangement, Draco let himself be distracted by his cooking. He had enjoyed the few times he was able to cook as a child, having a knack for potions helped with cooking, too. He was glad that Severus had been his godfather the guy had probably been the only good influence he had as a child, even though Severus hadn't been able to be open about it, not even to him. He had always hidden his lessons in morality behind something else. Still, he was glad that the man had tried to counter his father's bad influence in some way.

* * *

AN2: Thanks for reading guys. :)  
To the person who wrote the cult-review: You're close but not quite there ;) I was planning on using a "cult"-explanation, yes, but as an explanation why he broke off contact with his parents. But that part isn't written yet so who knows how that will play out... (Sadly, as your review was anonymous I couldn't reply to it directly.)


	5. Chapter 5: Dinner&Talk

**Warnings: **the usuual andmentions of... well, it's pretty much nothing: I don't really think I have to warn you about this but the word sex is mentionend - once. (I'm rolling my eye at myself right now.

**Disclaimer:** Does anyone really believe that if I owned HP, I'd be posting this stuff HERE? No? Didn't think so. But anyway, once again: I don't own HP, He and everyone else taken from the books belongs to J. K. Rowling. Oh, and no money-making either.

**AN: **Sorry I'm late . I was planning on updating last night - as usual - but I fell asleep. But rest assured, after tomorrow exams are over and I'll be on time next week. But, i think this is the longest chapter so far, so that's something at least. I could have made two chapters out of this one but then they'd been extremely short so here's a slightly longer one.  
Right, i think that's enough of my babbling for now, on with the story:

* * *

By the time the others came home in the evening, he had spent hours in the kitchen and the house was filled with a delicious, mouth-watering smell. In the beginning Draco had had some difficulties to figure out how to work the stove and the other applications but he had been alone, he'd had enough time to figure things out without having to ask for help and embarrass himself.

He had ended up preparing a full-blown three-course menu with mixed starters, lamb with noodles, vegetables and sauce, and afterwards three different types of mousse au chocolat. When Glen had offered him help, he had banned all of them from the kitchen. If he was doing this then he was doing it for real – including setting the dishes and washing up afterward. He probably wouldn't have needed to, but he had been raised to be a good host, and while house-elves were unavailable, those duties fell to him.

Consequently he set the table and then called the others to dinner.  
As soon as Lynn entered the kitchen her jaw dropped. Draco shuffled his feet uncomfortably, that hadn't been the reaction he'd been going for – not that he'd been going for any particular reaction. He grimaced. Had he done something wrong? He didn't want to draw attention to himself and his, well, strangeness. Inwardly he cursed.

"Holy…" Cassie had entered their kitchen behind Lynn. She stared at the table (and the still running stove). "If that's you call a small dinner, I don't want to know what a big one would be."  
Draco grimaced. "I didn't say 'small', just dinner." Cassie rolled her eyes and mumbled something about Glen and his talent for misinformation.

Glen appeared behind the girls. "Close your mouth, Lynnie, or the devil climbs in. What the hell are you doing there, standing around? I thought we were going to eat din…" He stopped suddenly when he finally laid eyes on the table and the – apart from the still running stove – impeccable kitchen. "Oh my…" He cleared his throat.

Draco stared at the floor, totally at loss what to do which resulted in him sounding rather snappish when he said "If you're finished gawking, shall we eat?"  
The three looked apologetically at him and took their seats. "Sorry, we were just surprised. None of us expected you to go all out. We were all rather thinking about the lines of a simple dish but… this is awesome" Glen grinned while the other two nodded.  
Draco relaxed. "Well, I just hope it tastes good." He shrugged he wasn't quite comfortable with their praise before they had even tasted anything. He had tasted everything while he was cooking of course, but still he did not know their tastes.

Throughout the starters and while they waited for the main course, they talked about their day. Cassie talked about her work, Glen complained about the movie he had seen in the morning and Lynn talked about their shopping and then about how she had visited a friend in the afternoon. Draco mainly listened. The main course brought gasps and Lynn even moaned that the taste was heavenly. The dessert ended with both girls declaring their love for him, while Glen just kind of glowed in happiness.

After dinner he sent the three into the living room, yet again refusing their help cleaning up and half an hour later he followed them with a bottle of wine since they had decided to get to know each other better.  
"Honestly, mate, if you call _that_ nothing special… then I can't even imagine a meal that you could call special."  
Draco shrugged. "I haven't cooked in years… so I wasn't too confident, I guess." In his thoughts he added 'and it is still a long way to go from that to the level of Hogwarts's house-elves. But I guess, for a human, it wasn't too bad.'

Lynn took the bottle of wine from his hands and grabbed a couple of glasses. "It was delicious! Don't you dare to downplay it, it was heaven! You have to cook for us again! Only if you want to, of course, but we'd love it, you know? Don't feel like you have to, though, of course you don't have to! It'd be a pity though. I mean, it's the best meal I ever had, and I'm pretty sure it's the same to all three of us, you know?" While Lynn filled their glasses and passed them round, she babbled on and the other three exchanged looks.  
Glen rolled his eyes. "You know, I think you could ask her for sexual favours in turn for cooking, judging by the way she's going." Lynn blushed profoundly while Cassie nearly fell of her chair laughing.  
Draco sighed deeply. "I am truly inconsolable but I am not interested in such a thing, Milady." For a moment he looked at them gravely and the other stared at him confused before he winked and broke into a grin.  
Cassie raised a brow. "'Milady'?"  
"Sorry, couldn't resist." He shrugged and Glen sniggered.  
"Lynn, you look as if your face was on fire." Draco agreed with him with a nod.  
"Sporting such a look is not becoming for a Lady of your standing." How Cassie managed to speak coherently with the way she was laughing was beyond Draco.

A few Milady-jokes later, their mood turned more serious.  
Glen cleared his throat. "I know you don't want to talk about your past, and I respect that but… If you want to continue to live here… and I would like that, you're a nice guy, but well, we share the rent and…" He seemed slightly uncomfortably. "Do you have a job or something?"  
Draco shook his head. "No, I don't. I plan on looking for one, though. But even if I don't find one immediately, you won't have to worry about the rent. My god-father left me some money… it should last me a couple of years, probably."  
Glen nodded. "Okay. What kind of job do you have in mind?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Something simple for starters." 'After all, I have no references I can use for a muggle job – and no knowledge either. But I guess I do need to get a job – I was planning on getting an apprenticeship in the magical world anyway… Besides I don't plan on ever using the Malfoy money for anything which means I need a job to support myself longterm. Snape's money will only last me so far. Oh well… I guess things could be worse but this – at least this way Lucius and his father will be turning in their graves which gets me some compensation. On another note it would be dreadfully boring to stay at home all the time.'

The others started to contemplate the advantages and disadvantages of different jobs while Draco listened on and tried to get a picture what the mentioned jobs would entail.

The girls turned in early that evening and the two males remained in the living room to chat a bit more.  
"So, anything else you want to talk about?"  
Draco shrugged. "Well, I don't know but I think we should get those bathroom rules out of the way." He winked.  
"Sure." Glen flashed an answering grin.  
"So, any rules you have?"  
"Not really. I'm used to living in a dorm with four other guys – and we had to share a shower room with two showers. Your rules?"  
"Not sure… leave it clean?" Glen shrugged. "How long do you take in the shower? We probably have to set a rule about that especially if we're both working but other than that…"  
Draco nodded. "Sounds fair. How about the closet?"  
"The green half is empty – I hope you don't mind the colour, Chris painted it one weekend when he was bored. The bathroom ended up being colour-coded."  
He laughed. "Green's fine with me." 'It is after all the Slytherin colour.'

They both sipped their wine in silence for a few minutes.  
"What do you think of us so far?"  
"Not sure. Lynn's a whirlwind, you seem nice and Cassie seems quiet. But it's hard to say anything, I haven't spent that much time in the company of any of you – except for Lynn this morning – so I can hardly judge."  
"True. But that's why I asked for a first impression."  
"Yes, well. I guess Lynn's temperament will take some getting used to. And to be honest you're all rather … I don't know how to phrase it… My school was a last-name-basis kind of school, so I'm not used to people I rarely know calling me Draco."  
"Oh… Sorry. We didn't…"  
Draco interrupted him. "Don't worry about it. It's okay. It was to be expected, after all we're living together. It's just… I'm not used to it."  
"Okay." Glen smiled. "Well, I'll try not to treat you with too much familiarity."

The flow of the conversation changed again.  
"Got a girlfriend?"  
Draco snorted. "No. No thank you. I wouldn't do that to anyone."  
Glen stared at him. "What?"  
He sighed. "It wouldn't be fair to the girl. I'm not… Back at home, with my parents and everything…" He stopped.  
"I see… Sorry, for asking." The look in Glen's eyes was sad and compassionate.  
Shaking his head Draco answered. "No. don't be. It's not your fault that my life was pretty messed up before I left. And there are a lot of things I don't want to talk about any time soon. I guess I should apologize beforehand, I'll probably lash out when such topics are touched upon." He frowned. He didn't like apologizing, Years of Lucius' drillings told him that it was beneath him and that fact enraged him. He didn't want to be angry but it seemed like he was going to be constantly angry or lashing out over the next few weeks at least, and that fact enraged him even more. He did not want to still be influenced by that bastard!  
Taking a deep breath and desperately trying to distract himself he asked "What about you? Boyfriend?"  
"No." His tone of voice made it clear that he didn't want to talk about it and Draco only nodded his consent. Suddenly Glen laughed. "I guess we all have things we'd rather not talk about."  
"I guess it's only human." Agreed Draco.  
The other man nodded. "Maybe."

"Are you religious?"  
Draco stared at Glen. How was he supposed to answer that? He was what muggles would probably call superstitious – though those superstitions were very real if you were a wizard. But he certainly was not religious – especially did he not share any of the foolish religious beliefs the muggles seemed to harbour. "No. I think not." He finally answered hesitantly.  
"Mhm. Me neither."  
They fell into silence.

He cleared his throat. "Well, I guess it's only fair if you tell me your impression of me so far."  
Glen seemed kind of uncomfortable. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not sure what to make of you yet. You're nice sometimes – and sometimes you … aren't because you're either angry or downright scary. And then there are the times when you're just acting strange. No offense."  
He flinched. That was exactly what he'd been afraid of. He had expected it of course, but there had still been a flicker of hope.

"None taken." He sighed. "I can understand the angry and scary part – I didn't mean to but still, even I realised that I wasn't acting that nice but… what do you mean 'strange'?"  
"Well, I don't know. I don't know what to call it, but your mannerisms, your facial expressions … sometimes they just don't seem to fit."  
"Culture shock." Draco mumbled.

Of course his expressions, mannerisms and whatnot didn't fit – he'd grown up completely different. Many things that muggles did or didn't do because of superstition – well, let's just agree that they weren't superstitions to him but reality and some others he knew _were_ only superstition. And then he had a completely different historical background. Some expressions he would never use were every-day language for muggles and some of the things he would have said in front of magical folk, he probably shouldn't have said in front of muggles.

And then there were the facial expression – but there it was more an issue of his being raised by someone like Lucius as part of the "aristocracy" and had nothing to do with him being a wizard in general. Then again they probably had something to do with that, too. He always thought that muggleborns were more… expressive with their emotions.

Glen blinked. "Oh. Right… that would certainly explain it. Just like your accent. It's just… you know, I've…. Hell, I don't know how to say that… but you seem lost at the oddest times."  
Draco didn't answer, Glen was right of course, but he couldn't explain it without saying too much.

Once again there was silence for a few minutes but it wasn't an uncomfortable one this time. They were both contemplating the things that had been said.  
Suddenly Glen broke the silence. "Why did you name your snake Myrtle?"  
Draco blinked. "Err… I named her after..." he decided to be at least partially honest "a ghost. My school had quite a few ghost stories, one of them was about a girl named Myrtle."  
Glen raised an eyebrow. "A ghost story?"  
He shrugged. "I needed a name." 'And Myrtle was there for me when no one else was – when no one else could be.'  
"Well, yes, but… A ghost story?" Glen sounded incredulous.  
"The girl was nice?" Draco offered. 'Well, she was nice once you got her to stop moping around and wallowing in self-pity.'

* * *

**AN2: **Okay, don't ask about the Milady-jokes, I have no clue how that happened, Draco just wanted to be that way.

Considering Snape's money, I honestly don't know if I mentioned it before, but in my hp-version here, he has earned a bit of money through his job at Hogwarts and some side business as potions master over the holidays etc. He's nowhere near as rich as the Malfoys but it could still last Draco for a few years if he uses it carefully.

Hmm... I think that's it from me for now, though I get the feeling I've forgotten something... oh, well.

TBC next week :)


	6. Ch6:Job Hunting and other Revelations I

**AN: **Hello again.  
Today's chapter is pretty short. Sorry about that, I hadn't realised it while writing and now... I think this the shortest chapter yet. :/

oh, and though this is probably unnecessary '...' are thoughts. ö.O

**Disclaimer&Warnings**: in the first chap

* * *

The next morning, Draco woke up like he normally did at 6 o'clock sharp. Yawning he made his way to the bathroom, took a shower and then went to the kitchen to get a bread roll. Munching the roll he decided to go for a walk to explore the neighbourhood.

Two and a half hours later, he entered the house and went straight for another shower – After an hour of walking he had decided to instead go for a jog and continue his exploring while running. Refreshed he took Myrtle out, draped her around his neck and went to take a look into their garden.

The garden was a nightmare. It was completely overgrown and while he definitely did not share his mother's perfectionism when it came to the layout and plants of a garden, he still thought that it should be somehow organized or well, at least be cared for. Even a wild garden needed to be controlled to a certain degree and their yard definitely hadn't.

Sighing he walked back inside and called the only person that seemed to be awake that Sunday morning. "Cassie?"  
"Mhm? Wha..? Oh, morning Dray'… What is it?" She sounded half-asleep.  
"Is there anyone tending to our garden?" he raised a brow.  
"Don't think so. Ask Glen." She yawned. "Sorry, I need caffeine." And with that she walked in the kitchen.  
Draco stared after her and sighed. 'Oh well, I'll ask him later. First I'll look if there are some job offers in the newspaper… we do have a newspaper, haven't we? Or is that a foreign concept to muggles? …Damn.' Cursing inwardly Draco checked the kitchen, the living room and the trash. No newspaper. 'Shit. Still… I'm sure I saw some at King's Cross. So they have to have some… Maybe it's just us who don't. Why do things have to be that complicated?'

A few hours later he stood in front of a little café that was searching for a waiter. Not exactly a job he'd imagined himself to have one day, but he'd have to make do.  
Taking a deep breath he entered the establishment and asked for the manager. He did not get the job though, because the manager – a guy in his fifties – refused to hire a 'poof' whatever that was. How the manager had judged him with just taking one look at him, he didn't understand but the guy had been adamant that there was no way he would hire a fairy. Draco had no idea how he resembled a fairy. The rumours about him being part Veela back at school he could understand but he was definitely not a tiny winged entity. And he sure as hell wasn't female!

Shaking his head he took a walk, looking for anyone else searching for an employee. After close to two hours of walking he found a small book store that was looking for a cashier but he had no luck. The owner wanted a cashier that had actually read at least some books and while Draco had read quite a lot of books (it was the only activity at home where he'd been able to avoid Lucius, at least most of the time), none of them had been muggle books except for Shakespeare but apparently such 'mainstream' literature didn't count. The list of authors he should have known didn't mean anything to him: Wilde, Tolkien, Schiller, Goethe, Homer or Ovid.

He turned around and headed homewards, still looking out for any signs but still no luck. By the time Draco came home, he was frustrated, confused and his feet hurt - he'd been walking around for hours and he had heard a few bits and pieces from conversations in passing that didn't make any sense to him.

"Oh. You're back." Glen smiled at him. "Lynn's at a birthday party tonight and Cass' is using the calm for cramming before her final exam. So you'd better be quiet. Trust me you don't want to interrupt her when she's seriously cramming.  
"So she's a Granger." Draco snorted.  
"Huh?"  
"Oh, nothing. Nevermind. Glen? What's a pouf?"  
Glen froze and tensed visibly. "Where did you hear that?"  
Draco frowned. "Some guy called me that, when I asked about a job. I know what a fairy is though I can't fathom how I resemble a tiny little wingy being out of some fairy-tale. But what the hell is a 'pouf'?"  
Glen stared at him, completely dumbstruck, for a moment before he burst into laughter. "Err, I don't think he meant it like that. Actually both terms are…" He discontinued and was suddenly completely serious. "There both cuss for 'gay people'." He finished in a small voice.  
Draco blinked. "Cuss?"  
"Yeah, you know… cuss words… no? Err, well they're swear words.. dirty words for someone who's gay?" Glen stared at the floor and Draco exploded."WHAT? What would me being gay have to do with working as a waiter? I'm not gay but that still is none of his business, what the hell is it to him what I do in my free time? Where does the guy get off saying stuff like that? And what kind of argument is 'I can't hire a pouf' anyway?" He was seething and he would have continued had he not realised that he was slowly losing control of his magic.

While a wizard possessed his wand, there was practically no risk of his magic getting out of control just because the owner was overrun by some emotion. Without a wand as a puffer and an item to concentrate his magic into, things were different. Magic was a lot more dangerous when it was uncontrolled. And at the moment Draco's wand was safely stowed away in his room – too far away to channel his emotion-controlled magic into it.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.  
"It's no reason. Well, it shouldn't be but sadly, it still is. You could probably sue the man but I doubt that would be of much use."  
'No, but I could curse him, Glen.' He shrugged. "No, I suppose not. … Would you consider Shakespeare to be mainstream?"  
Glen stared at him. "Wha?"  
"Well, I found a bookstore that was looking for a cashier and apparently the books I read had been too mainstream. Well, Shakespeare had been, anyway."  
"No. not really, anyway. I mean, sure, he's in the curriculum but only certain plays are, not all of them. And he surely can't be called mainstream!"

Draco stared at his feet. There were so many things he wanted to ask about and he didn't know how to without seeming strange yet again. His anger was rising for the second time within minutes.

"You're doing it again. Getting angry for no apparent reason, I mean."  
Draco's anger deflated within seconds. "Sorry, I guess. It's just…" He stopped. 'There are so many things I don't understand, things I don't know. Things I can't ask about without drawing attention to myself, attention that I can't risk. And it's damn frustrating.'  
Glen nodded. "You don't want to talk about it because it has to do with your past."  
He flinched. "Yes… that, too. And then there is the 'culture shock'. With many things I feel like I've been thrown into a completely different world."  
Glen frowned. "A completely different world?"  
"Let's just say… my father was conservative. I grew up without things like computers, cell-phones or a TV. Half the time when people talk to me, I don't understand half of what they're saying." When he looked up he found himself opposite a dropped jaw.  
"No… no TV? At all? Oh my."  
Draco shrugged. 'That's the best I can come up with without saying too much. Besides, it's the truth!'

Glen was silent. It seemed like he was in shock. "Well… that would probably also explain a lot. Want me to give you a crash-course?"  
He blinked. "What?"  
"I could tell you about those things if you'd like. And you don't have to tell the girls, if you don't want to though it would probably be easier if they knew you don't know certain things."  
Fury surged through his veins for a moment. 'How dare he..!' But then he sighed and forced himself to calm down.  
"Sorry. But I'd prefer not to tell them. At least not yet, anyway. I remember how Lynn reacted when she found out that I never owned a cell-phone. I'd rather not have to find out how overbearing she'd become if she knew. I don't know about Cassie but judging from the way her cell-phone seemed that important for her survival yesterday…" They both laughed at that thought.

They spent the next two hours with Glen explaining how to use a television, a dvd-player and so on. They decided to procrastinate the computer-lesson to another day, and instead watch a movie. Again, Draco didn't understand half the references but at least he didn't have to pretend to and Glen tried to explain some of the things. (In the end it took them three hours to watch the movie which normally only lasted about 90 minutes.)

Mostly Glen explained references from other movies after all he didn't know that Draco also had never read a muggle newspaper. Every political or historical reference was lost to him as well, but he didn't ask and just tried to pretend to understand. Draco did not understand why there was animosity between Britain and Germany or what the significance was if Frenchs preferred cake to bread. He couldn't understand the sentiment but what did it matter?

* * *

**AN2**: short, I know. :/ But next week's chapter is about the normal length again (~2000words).

I know that there are some theories about Grindelwald and World War 2, but even if those apply, then Draco would not consider it as relevant for muggles.


	7. Ch7:Job Hunting & Conspiracy Theories II

**Disclaimer:** I still do not own Harry Potter or Draco Malfoy for that matter. All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling. Neither do I own a certain TV show or any of Tolkien's works or the corresponding movies that are mentioned below. I'm also not making money with this.

**AN:** Another weekend, another chapter... On with the story.

* * *

The next day, Monday, Draco started the day browsing the newspaper he learned they did in fact get – but they were normally thrown out around noon cause none of them read those unless it was in the morning during breakfast – for job offers. He was alone at home, Glen was at University, Cassie and Lynn had gone to work. Myrtle draped around his neck, he marked the offers that were of interest to him and later he left to apply for those jobs.

The first place he went was classed as a 'fast-food-restaurant'. He had no idea what fast-food meant, but he figured that if they called it a restaurant it couldn't be too bad. But as soon as he set a foot into the establishment he turned around and decided to never return to this dirty hellhole of a snack stall. How muggles could call that a restaurant was beyond him. Not even a pub in Knockturn alley smelled that bad.

The next job on his list was a so-called gofer – he had no idea what it was, but apparently one didn't need any references for that job.  
When he asked at the reception desk of the small firm that offered the job, he immediately got a date for a job interview – he was supposed to return later that afternoon.

Draco decided to wait with further job hunting until after his job interview this afternoon and he went looking for a small restaurant to eat lunch.  
He ended up in a small but cosy diner: There where only half a dozen tables. The main colour-theme was a dark green and a light, creamy beige. Apart from him there was only one other guest and the waitress soon arrived at his table.

"Hey there. What can I get you?" The girl smiled widely at him.  
"Can you recommend anything?" He asked, after all, with half the muggles dishes he wasn't sure what he would order because he had no idea what those dishes were.  
The girl blushed and seemed slightly awed that he asked for her opinion. Draco rolled his eyes. He knew he was beautiful but sometimes that could also be annoying.  
"Well, if you like burgers, I'd recommend 'Niku' it's the best we have. If you don't then I'd probably stick to pancakes." She shrugged.  
Draco had no idea what a burger is, but seeing as it was her first recommendation he chose that one.  
"Great." The girl beamed. "Would you like something to drink?"  
"Some water." He ordered and the girl scurried away.

He stared out of the window, lost in thought, until the girl returned with his orders.  
"Here you are. By the way, my name is Stella. Just yell for me if you need anything else, okay?" She gave him a winning smile and disappeared again.  
The burger – a piece of meat between two halves of a bread-roll – was tasty. Unlike what Draco would have expected from her reaction to him, she remained hidden in the kitchen and he was able to eat in peace. After he finished he laid the money and a tip on the table and left.

Taking a little detour to kill some time, he returned to his job interview.  
Upon entering the building he was sent to an office where he would meet his possible new boss.

"Well, hello, Mr Black." Being addressed like that, he suddenly realised that he now bore the same name as that mutt Sirius Black – not a very comforting thought. While he sighed inwardly, he smiled at the woman opposite him.  
"Hello."  
"It's nice to meet you. Anyway let's get down to business. I like you" she winked. "This isn't a job where you need many skills so I'd propose you just try out so to speak, let's say for two weeks? And if you feel comfortable here and do your job right, we'll employ you for real. Don' worry though, we'll pay you for the two weeks too, naturally, and we'll just wait with a formal contract until we know if you'll be staying."  
Draco nodded. "Err… right. Okay. When do I start?" He felt a bit overwhelmed by the suddenness of his new boss (apparently).  
"Why, you can start tomorrow if you want?" She smiled and Draco felt slightly uncomfortable. "Let's say at 8 o'clock? Okay? Good. See you at eight tomorrow then."  
That was a dismissal if Draco ever heard one. He left as if he were in a daze.

The woman had overrun him so to speak. He sighed. He had a bad feeling about the next day, somehow. Yet, he decided to return home and worry about tomorrow when tomorrow came.

When he came home, Lynn and Cassie were already there and deeply involved in a discussion about the royal family. Apparently Lynn thought that the family was a tribe of werewolves. Draco raised a brow. He really doubted that. If they were, he would have certainly heard of it growing up but apparently (meaning, according to Lynn) they were a lycanthropic tribe since Queen Victoria. He wasn't too sure how long ago that Queen had lived but he was pretty sure that the current Queen wasn't named Victoria… From what he had heard from muggle-borns in Hogwarts the name of the current Queen was Elizabeth or something.

"How can you say that it's impossible?" Lynn asked provocatively.  
"Apart from the fact that there are no werewolves, don't you think someone would have noticed?" Well, Cassie was certainly wrong there. They definitely existed. Hell, he had even been taught by one at a time – but he wasn't about to say that. Instead he opted to listen to their amusing discussion.  
"That's my point! How can you say that there are no werewolves? You can't prove that something doesn't exist!"  
"Oh come on! Don't get philosophical on me!" Cassie sighed. "But for argument's sake, let's pretend they existed. Don't you think someone would have noticed?"  
"They're the royal family! Don't you think they had the abilities and the resources to cover it up?"  
"Well, I still think someone would have noticed! There should at least be rumours then!"  
"If there weren't rumours, would we have this discussion?"  
"We're having this discussion because of a stupid TV-show! And not because of rumours. Seriously, Lynn." Cassie sounded exasperated.  
"It's not a stupid TV-show." Lynn pouted. "Anyway, where do you think they got the idea from?"  
Cassie groaned. "There's no dissuading you, is there?"  
"Nope. So, now that we've established that werewolves exist and they had the resources to cover up, how can you be sure that they aren't werewolves?"  
Draco rolled his eyes. Someone seemed to love conspiracies.  
"When did we establish…. Oh hell, whatever! If, and only if!, werewolves existed then I guess without further knowledge I couldn't be sure. But as they don't exist…"  
Lynn rolled her eyes. "You can't prove that!"  
"Lynn!"  
"Say, Dray, what do you think?"

'Dray?' He blinked in surprise. "What did you just call me?" He sounded positively hostile even to his own ears.  
"Oh, alright, Draco. Whatever. What do you think?"  
He shrugged. "I doubt they're werewolves even if they exist. But what do I know" He rolled his eyes. 'Well, to answer my own question – I know they exist. Still, I doubt the muggle royal family consists of werewolves. Anyway.'

Now both girls were pouting. He groaned. 'Women.' "What? I think your both partly right. While it is true that you can't prove that werewolves don't exist, hell, considering your theory about rumours, there'd have to be some but who knows.. Still, I think someone would have noticed." 'At least _we_ would have. And it would have been a good joke amongst purebloods. "Muggles governed by werewolves" There's no way it would not be known in the magical world… Merlin, I hope I haven't said too much.' Draco cursed himself inwardly.

Both girls grumbled but they accepted his verdict and decided to ambush Glen about it as soon as he got home. Draco used the time they needed to come to said agreement to escape to his room.  
"Can you explain women to me, Myrtle? You're female after all… no? Damn" He laughed at himself. Living with muggles couldn't be good for his sanity if he started to talk to his snake despite not being a parselmouth. And it had only been three days!

Glen's arrival was announced by a shriek and a thump. Draco guessed that the shriek had been Lynn who jumped at Glen as soon as he entered. At least it seemed like it happened that way, since, when he opened his door and stepped into the hall, Glen was lying on the floor and Lynn was practically straddling him and apologizing.

Cassie broke into a fit of laughter. "You know, you look like a couple that hasn't seen each other in a long time."  
"A couple that's madly in love" Draco added. "Though your apologizing kind of destroys that picture." He grinned while Lynn blushed and Glen seemed rather… uncomfortable with the thought which caused Cassiopeia to laugh even harder.  
Draco decided to rescue Glen and walked up to them and helped them up.

"So… To what do I owe this rather enthusiastic welcome?" Glen raised a brow.  
"I'd guess that Lynn wanted to ask you about your opinion on the theory that we're reigned by a tribe of werewolves." Draco grinned and both girls nodded.  
"Err… what?" Glen blinked confused.  
"That's what I thought." He shrugged and the girls (mainly Lynn) promptly launched into an explanation of the theory. (Cassie pointed out that she had the idea from a _luna_tic TV-show, which sent Lynn in a fit of giggles.)

Glen looked at them exasperated. "Are you nuts?"  
"No, why?" Lynn glared at him.  
"I doubt that's possible. Someone would definitely had noticed. And let's not even start on the possibility of werewolves actually existing. – What, do you think they exist?" Draco had raised a brow.  
"Err… no, I don't think they do." 'Actually I know they do... Not good. I need to be more careful!'

Glen still seemed doubtful but didn't press. Lynn on the other hand used the silence to launch in another theory about how it was covered up. It was very interesting and if he ever planned on helping the ministry on how to hide the magical world, he now had a quite a few good ideas.

By the time Lynn stopped talking Draco had forgotten that he wanted to tell the others about his job.

A few minutes later, Cassie offered to order a round of take-outs. They ordered pizza and Cassie dragged them into the living room to eat while watching a movie called 'Lord of the Rings' from an author called 'Tolkien'. When asked, Draco had to admit that he knew neither the author nor the story which made them decide to watch the first movie instead of the third which apparently was the best out of the bunch.

A few minutes into the movie, Draco frowned. The plot seemed familiar to him. After half an hour he was sure. The story had a different name in the muggle world, as did the author, but it was still pretty much the same story he knew growing up. 'The end of the Third Age' by R.J.R. Oxymore was a trio of books which nearly every kid with magical parents had read. Draco guessed that either one of the story must have been published under a pseudonym. 'I wonder what other books are known in both worlds under different name…'

From then on, Draco kept a look-out for things that were different in the muggle version, though he knew by now (thanks to Glen) that he would have to read the books if he really wanted to hunt for differences, because movie makers always changed some things. They had to because things weren't that easily translated from paper to film.

So far, everything seemed pretty much identical – well, except for the wizard's staff – in the wizarding version he had a wand. But Draco had to admit that the staff was way more impressive than a simple wand.

* * *

**AN2:** Rereading this chapter, I have to admit it is a bit all over the place. But oh well...  
Next week will most likely be the biggest chapter yet... ö.O So at least there's something to look forward to I hope.  
Anyway, thanks for reading. :)


	8. Ch8: First Day at Work&its Repercussions

**Warnings & Disclaimer: **to be found in earlier chapters, chapter 1 for example. Especially for this chapter though... slight freak out on Draco's part?^^  
**AN:** longest chapter yet... almost 2.500 words, not exactly how I planned it, but I couldn't cut the next two chapters another way... I was contemplating making three chapter out if it, but I refuse to post a normal chapter with only about 1.100 words, so... here we are. ave fun :)  
[Sorry I'm a few hours late, I started to upload on time tonight, but the battery of my netbook died and I had to wait till this morning to use my computer to complete the AN as well as post this chappie.]

* * *

The next morning Draco was slightly nervous when he prepared himself to go to work. He had not worked a day in his life – he heard that some of the muggleborns and a few classmates from more progressive families spent their summer holidays with a job, but he had been too young at first – naturally – and not really interested, and then he'd been too busy with his Death Eater duties to even think about getting a job.

He arrived at his work place with a few minutes to spare, but as soon as his boss laid eyes on him she dragged him inside.  
"You're early!" She sounded delighted. "That's great. Well, you can start with making coffee – the kitchen is that way." She shooed him into the kitchen. "There's the coffee, and the cups 'n' stuff is over there. Bring a cup to my office when you're done and leave the rest here in a pot." And with that she left a bewildered Draco.

"Damn." He muttered under his breath. He had no idea how to handle a coffee machine but he figured it shouldn't be too different from a stove. And anyway, if things went completely wrong he could salvage whatever he produced with his magic and research at home.

Luckily for him the on-button had the same symbol as the DVD-player back home, so he managed to turn it on. He also easily figured out where to put the coffee powder but he had no idea which buttons to press now.

Five minutes later he was busy cleaning up the mess he made – the button he pressed was for a larger amount of coffee than could possibly fit into the only can in the kitchen. The coffee itself was passable and he had brought a cup to his boss.

If two years ago, someone had told him that he would be scrubbing tables for muggles he'd have told them to get themselves checked out in a mental hospital – yet here he was doing exactly that. And to think that it was strangely comforting to do these things by hand – it had a sort of calming effect. One didn't need to think whilst doing such profane manual work - totally unbecoming of a Malfoy or a Black, hell, it would probably even have been unbecoming for a Weasel but it _was_ calming.

Draco groaned. He couldn't believe he compared himself to a Weasel just now. Then again, he had to admit that he kind of preferred them to his own 'family'. Brrrr. He shook himself. That mere thought was disgusting. He couldn't deny it though, it was the truth. The Weasleys never treated their own like his… Lucius had. Draco could not bring himself to think about that man as his father.

"Once you're finished murdering whatever bacteria formerly infested our kitchen…" a chuckle interrupted his train of thought "maybe you could help us getting these orders copied. Our printer is down, and we need a second copy for the archives. Down the street is a copy shop." The guy threw him an envelope with coins and gave him a bigger envelope with the files to be copied.  
"Now run along Newbie."  
Draco bristled at the insult but controlled his temper and left rather abruptly, ignoring the laughter that followed him outside.

The trip to the copy shop went surprisingly well. It had been easy to find and he had just repeated what the other guy at work told him (he had no idea what a printer was but he figured the clerk would and he was right) and got copies of every page.

His 'colleague' sneered at him when he returned the now three envelopes, Draco ignored him. Was this how Potter had felt when he had tried to rile him up back in school? But at least he had had a reason for his behaviour – hadn't he? Draco wasn't sure anymore.

He was about to return to cleaning the kitchen when his boss called him, sending him on a errand. He had to bring a package to the other end of the city but since they were late he only had half an hour left – and obviously he was to only use muggle ways of transport. In short, it was impossible.

He barely managed to deliver it in time – but only because he was 'cheating' and had used some low-level magic to speed things up a bit – his running to be precise. He knew he'd regret it in the evening especially since he used that bout of magic without his wand and he had barely been able to control the spell. Meaning his overuse of his muscles would have to be paid for and dearly. He'd probably be forced to use a slight healing spell on himself the next morning just to be able to walk – and it would still hurt. Not that he would ever give anyone the satisfaction to see him in pain – apart from that one time in third year but that had been faked to achieve his goals.

Naturally he was rather grumpy by the time he returned. He was so not looking forward to the evening and the next morning when the over exercise would take its toll. His grumpiness showed as always when he controlled his temper, in a sickly sweet way. He was being overly nice. His cronies back at school knew that mood and they would've gone running as soon as they lay eyes on him in that mood. His new co-workers weren't so lucky and they had no idea why they suddenly felt threatened by his mere presence when he didn't do anything. He on the other hand knew perfectly well that he was about to lose control of his magic – not in a dangerous way but his magic seeped into his aura and turned it into a fairly intimidating one.

His co-workers kept out of his way when he walked towards his boss' office to tell her he was back and had managed in time.  
She sent him to go buy new coffee for the kitchen.  
"Oh, and Draco? Call me Mary-Ann. Everyone does." Her sickly-sweet smile rather reminded him of Pansy's on her bad days – kind of creepy. And he had to keep a tight hold on his temper so that he wouldn't snap at her for using his first name.

He was beginning to wonder if muggles normally called each other by their first name. In the wizarding world one only called his close friends or acquaintances by that name, with everyone else one was on a last-name-basis. It was considered terribly unpolite to be overly familiar with people one didn't know.

When he returned his boss was in the kitchen, waiting for the coffee. He had taken a bit long because he'd had difficulties with the muggle currency.  
He filled the coffee machine and put the rest into a cupboard. Once the coffee was finished he gave her a cup.  
"Thanks, hon."

At the sound of her voice, or rather at the sound of the nickname, he froze.

* * *

Draco walked into the living room and plopped down onto the couch. He stared at nothing, lost in thought. Questions and feelings tumbling around in his head leaving him unable to concentrate on any particular thought. He felt distinctly uncomfortable but at the moment he wasn't even sure _why_. His mind was a jumbled mess.

Suddenly a hand touched his shoulder and he shrank away, about to snap at whatever idiot dared to touch him without permission – not that he would give anyone such a permission! Damn. His shields were back up with force.  
"Whoa. Hey, Draco? You ok? You're kinda pale." Glen looked at him worried. "What happened?"

Draco couldn't answer. He had no clue what he was supposed to say. Nothing had happened, at least not really. But he trusted his gut feelings, they saved him quite a few times and he regretted every last time he hadn't listened to them – and earlier today they had screamed alarm. His boss' behaviour (he couldn't bring himself to think of the woman as 'Mary-Ann') had freaked him out.

"Nothing… I think."  
Glen snorted. "Right. You acting like that… yeah, sure nothing happened. I tried to get your attention for five minutes. You've been sitting here, staring into space, for about an hour." That long? It had only felt like five or six minutes to him.  
"Sorry." He sighed. "But… I'm not sure if I'm not just overreacting." His tone was angry but inside he felt helpless. He probably just… misunderstood something.

He felt lost. He had basically no idea how to read muggle body language. Growing up he didn't exactly come in contact with muggles, Lucius forbade it, except for those three parties thrown by muggle business partners where the whole families were invited: not just the wife but also the children. But even then, Draco had been told to keep his distance as much as possible and back then, as a young child, he hadn't known better and believed his father when he told him that muggles were dirty and sick.  
Nowadays he felt sick when he remembered how superior he had thought himself.

But even as his perception of the world, of muggles and muggleborns and more importantly his opinion about the war changed – when he found out how cruel the 'saintly' purebloods were, how filthy their minds and their actions, with some spectacular exceptions, but well, most of them were no better than rabid animals in his eyes – he still hadn't paid much attention to muggleborns in Hogwarts out of habit.

He never had much to do with any muggleborn, except with Granger (by default through his rivalry with Potter.) And yet, even when it came to her or Potter or Snape for that matter – who all grew up with muggles – their muggle mannerisms diffused with the time they had spent in the magical world. By learning and using magic the way they conducted themselves, their behaviour changed slightly. They adapted to the magical world and adopted certain mannerisms. Even if he would pay attention to them, they wouldn't have been much of a model for muggle behaviour anymore.

Glen frowned. "Hey… it's okay… maybe if you talk about it, it'll become clearer? Or maybe it'll help to get a second opinion?"  
Draco shrugged. What was he supposed to tell him anyway? That he freaked out after being called an endearment – as far as he knew it could be perfectly normal amongst muggles. But what if it wasn't? What if his gut feeling was right? Or worse, what if it wasn't and he embarrassed himself… But wait, he had already told Glen that he was from a last-name-basis-kind-of-school – he could use that for his reasoning. He wouldn't have to shame his family, he could downplay the whole thing.

Cursing inwardly over his defensive shields, he forced himself to open up a little bit and tell Glen what happened. Not even a Malfoy could survive in the world without a single friend. Scratch that. _He _couldn't. And not only because he didn't have the Malfoy name, with its money and the ability to threaten with it, behind him anymore, but also because he was merely human. He wasn't his father.

"Maybe." He sighed. "I don't know, but I guess it couldn't hurt to talk about it. Although, I think I may just be overreacting."  
Glen waited for him to continue.  
"It's probably nothing… But remember, I told you about my school and it being relatively, well, strict and formal."  
Glen nodded. "Yeah."

"well, my boss…"  
"Your boss?" Glen interrupted.  
"Err, yes, right, I forgot to tell you over Melinda's, erm, enthusiasm… I found a job yesterday, well I'm on a trial period but… anyway. My boss was kind of creeping me out, I guess. She's just being overly familiar – at least in my opinion. I'm not too sure as to what's standard in the 'outside' world." He managed to wink at Glen, trying to cover his… helplessness? Confusion?, by making a joke of it. His shields were still active. Living for years under Lucius' thumb did that to you – his shields, his defences and his 'Malfoy pride' were ingrained into him. And they were damn hard habits to break.

Glen frowned and hesitated. "Oh, hell, I'm guessing here, cause it's really hard to read you but I think you're downplaying it. There's no way she was just 'overly familiar', if she was you wouldn't be that freaked – at least, I think you're freaked. You're not acting freaked now, but you've been spacing out for only god knows how long and you weren't overly responsive when I addressed you…. And I'm rambling, sorry, go on."

Draco relaxed. He didn't know why but Glen's babbling had calmed him down a bit. "Well, I was a bit freaked." He admitted quietly. Answering Glen's questioning glance he continued. "Maybe it's nothing but somehow I got a bad feeling. About that job… or rather about my boss, I don't know why but she was creeping me out. She called me 'honey'." 'And as far as I know that's an endearment used for someone's partner… At least, that weird Ravenclaw muggleborn six year called his girlfriend that name last year. And he had called her that all the time. But then again, the guy had been pretty fixated on that girl.' He shuddered.

Glen stared at him and he was clearly struggling not to laugh. "That's all?"  
"Told you I was probably overreacting." Draco snapped at him, "But thanks for taking it seriously." His voice was acidic.

"Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean too. It's just… I'm Scottish." He said as a way of explanation – only it didn't explain anything for Draco.

Seeing the confusion in his eyes, Glen continued "Err, in Scotland that's relatively normal… If you go shopping and purchase something, it can happen that the cashier shows his gratitude with a "Thank you sweetheart." Or something similar… I'm used to that. But it is not as common down here. Maybe your boss is Scottish?" Glen tried to joke.

Draco scowled at him. "Forget it. I was stupid to think talking to you would be of any use." Yet again, his shields were back up and the part of him that still could not get rid of Lucius' teachings berated him for being so bloody stupid to even _consider_ talking to a muggle about anything that concerned himself. He should know by now that muggles were completely useless.

* * *

**AN:** Well... I'd apologize about the sort-of cliffie, but there just was no other way to cut this chapter and the next one apart.  
Next week's upload will be different from normal. Next week I will upload 2 chapters or rather one and a half. The next chapter like always and an Interlude (this conversation from Glen's point of view). The Interlude is not needeed for the continuation of the story but it was easier for me to write this conversation from both POV's. Anyone who wants to read this story from Draco's POV only (the way I originally ülanned on writing it) can just skip the Interlude, you won't really miss anything plot-wise. It is the same conversation just with another perosns thoughts added instead of Draco's.  
I'm explaining this now instead of next week, because the Interlude will be the next chapter and the next regular chapter will be uploaded as chapter 10 instead of 9.  
Well TBC, and thanks for reading. :)


	9. Interlude: Glen's POV

**AN:** Alright, here it is, the "Interlude" of sorts... Glen's POV. It's the same dialogue from the last chapter (and a few sentences from the next) so if anyone wants to read this story only from Draco's POV: skip this chap.  
I'll upload the regular chapter later today (considering that here it's just past 1 am).

**Warnings:** the usual... and I think, from now on, I have to add a warning for a few swear words in between, not many but they do happen. oh, and this chap is from another point of view that the regular chappies.

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own anything... Or well, maybe I own Glen, Lynn and Cassie but other than that... I definitely DO NOT own Draco Malfoy (or Black in this case) or anything from the HPverse. And I'm not making profit with any of this.

* * *

At first Glen had been wondering what Draco was staring at then he had realized that the guy was just staring into space. He had wanted to let him be but after half an hour it started to creep him out. But then his mobile had rung and he had left to take the call – fifteen minutes later he still didn't know what Jessie wanted from him, he only knew that the guy was completely smashed. It was quite funny to listen to his babbling actually, it provided great ammunition for future teasing. But when he walked back into the living room after the phone call and Draco still hadn't moved he decided to approach the guy.

"Draco?" No reaction. "Draco?!... Black? Oy, anyone home?" Still no reaction, the guy was obviously very deep in thought. "Come on, Black, you can't be that far gone…" Glen mumbled.

Sighing he walked closer. "Hey! Draco Black!" 'Argh!' He had enough and reached out to (gently) shake the boy's shoulder. He had not expected such a strong reaction though. Draco flinched away and turned on him with a murderous look on his face. He gulped.

"Whoa. Hey, Draco? You ok? You're kinda pale… What happened?" It was quite interesting to watch the emotion flit over his face before he put on a mask and snapped. "Nothing!" A few seconds later however a mumbled "I think" followed and it sounded pretty unsure, too.

'Right.' Glen sighed inwardly. "Right. You acting like that… yeah, sure nothing happened. I tried to get your attention for five minutes. You've been sitting here, staring into space, for about an hour." He looked at the guy in concern and he didn't miss the look of surprise that for a second flashed over Draco's face. At least he figured it was surprise… He wasn't too sure what to make of the expression. It was partly surprise, but something else as well… He sighed.

"Sorry. But… I'm not sure if I'm not just overreacting."

Draco thought he might be overreacting? Glen didn't really think so, seeing how freaked he seemed. Then again, his body language projected complete calm and maybe even a hint of amusement although it was clear that that wasn't the case. Draco was neither calm nor amused. It was quite confusing.

"Hey… it's okay… maybe if you talk about it, it'll become clearer? Or maybe it'll help to get a second opinion?" Did he really just offer to play shrink? Oh well, he guessed he owed it to the guy – if nothing else, then for _that_ dinner.

"Maybe. I don't know, but I guess it couldn't hurt to talk about it. Although, I think I may just be overreacting." Glen really didn't know what to say to that so he didn't say anything but looked encouragingly at Draco.

"It's probably nothing… But remember, I told you about my school and it being relatively, well, strict and formal."  
"Yeah." He remembered that. It had surprised him but then again it had explained a lot. Draco seemed uncomfortable around them from time to time. Maybe uncomfortable was the wrong word… unsure, self-conscious… He couldn't even find a word for it in his thoughts. What made the whole thing even weirder was the fact that Draco was normally self-confident at least as far as Glen could tell. It didn't make any sense unless… he had a split personality or something along the line.

"Well, my boss…" – "Your boss?" What boss? He thought Draco didn't have a job?  
"Err, yes, right. I forgot to tell you over Melinda's, erm, enthusiasm. I found a job yesterday, well, I'm on a trial period but anyway. My boss is kind of creeping me out, I guess. She's just being overly familiar – at least in my opinion, I'm not too sure as to what's the standard in the 'outside' world." A wink accompanied his explanation but Glen could see that it was forced… well, as far as he could be sure about Draco's emotions. Something still didn't fit.

"Oh hell, I'm guessing here, cause it's really hard to read you but I think you're downplaying it. There's no way she was just 'overly familiar' if she was you wouldn't be that freaked – at least, I think you're freaked. You're not acting freaked now but you've been spacing out for only god knows how long and you weren't overly responsive when I addressed you… And I'm rambling, sorry, go on." He was trying to rein in his sarcasm.

"Well, I was a bit freaked. Maybe it's nothing but somehow I got a bad feeling. About that job… or rather about my boss, I don't know why but she was creeping me out. She called me 'honey'." Okay, Glen admittedly didn't see the problem with that but considering that Draco was apparently used to last names…He knew he shouldn't but he had a hard time smothering a laugh.  
"That's all?"  
"Told you I was probably overreacting. But thanks for taking it seriously." Now, that was about the only thing in this conversation that sounded like someone overreacting. It was obvious that Draco was getting angry.

"Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean too. It's just… I'm Scottish." Glen was trying to diffuse Draco's anger but it seemed like that explanation had been any help. Draco seemed to be even more… something. Angry? Confused? Glen didn't know what to call it.  
"Err, in Scotland that's relatively normal… If you go shopping and purchase something, it can happen that the cashier shows his gratitude with a 'Thank you sweetheart' or something similar… I'm used to that. But it is not as common down here. Maybe your boss is Scottish?" He tried to joke – he meant what he said but he tried to diffuse the situation with a joke, but….

"Forget it. I was stupid to think talking to you would be of any use."

Glen cursed. He could watch Draco closing up again. He must have had a rotten childhood to be that defensive. He felt helpless, he knew next to nothing about the guy and therefore had no idea what to do or what to say to get him to open up again – he only knew useless titbits like his favourite colour, that the guy was a brilliant cook, that there seemed to be some bad blood between him and his parents, since he practically outright refused to talk about them and his past.

The only thing that he knew about Draco's past was that he had attended a last-name-basis school and shared his dorm with at least one gay guy and two others. Oh, and then he seemed pretty tolerant towards gay's while he seemed condescending at other times when there was no reason at all for him to feel that way.

It didn't make any sense at all. And then there were the signals that boy gave. His body language at times indicated the complete opposite than his facial expression or his voice. It was quite confusing. He knew that Cassie found it puzzling, too. Lynn on the other hand didn't stop long enough to pay attention to stuff like that, she was too much of a whirlwind.

Cassie had her theories about that, but she didn't share them. She was one of the rare girls that just didn't do gossip. She kept her opinions to herself normally. But still, the gist of what she had thought had been obvious to him after living with her for two and a half years. And boy, did he hope that she was wrong.

But her theories, or rather what he thought her theories were, didn't help him at all right then and there.

He wondered where the conversation went wrong. Was it when he had said that such 'endearments' were normal in Scotland – he had been trying to make a joke, had it made Draco think that he wasn't taking him seriously?

Strangely enough, the guy hadn't seemed freaked at all earlier – he had seemed to be completely relaxed – the only indication that something was wrong had been the fact that he was unresponsive. And while Glen didn't have much to go on, he didn't think that Draco was someone that was easily freaked.

Then again, Draco also hadn't struck him as someone insecure, he had rather seemed like a confident person… But that was probably just his defence mechanism, if the situation right now was any indication.

What the hell had happened to the guy for him to be that… closed off, mistrusting and defensive? He was beginning to seriously worry about his new friend.

"I'm sorry, Draco. I didn't mean to offend you." 'Although it seems clear that I did.' He added in his thoughts.  
"I'm just… not sure what to make of what you said. I mean, I don't know your boss… Nor do I know her personality. I mean, would you have freaked out like that if it had been Lynn? You would have had her head, maybe, but I highly doubt that you would have freaked. After all, you know what Lynn is like…. Your boss' probably different but I don't know her, you know? So I can't judge… You need to tell me more about her if you want me to help you clear this mess up. And I want to help you, you know?"

He was positively babbling now but he didn't care, he just hoped he could get Draco to open up again.

"Alright. Talk." Glen flinched at the order. There was no doubt about that tone. And as much as he hated it, he felt compelled to follow said order and answer. He didn't know why but suddenly Draco had a confidence or rather an aura you really didn't want to cross. At least not if you wanted to survive.

* * *

**AN2:** And to think that I wanted to make a short(!) Interlude because I needed it for the flow of the conversation and in this case it was easier to write both sides... 1600 words *sigh* but I guess I should consider it short after all my chapters have grown slightly longer *cough* When I started I had planned on chapters with 1500-2000 words... now I'm closer to 2000-2500words per chapter.  
But it was fun to write the other side for a change.  
I apologize that Glen repeats himself a bit, but well, those are his thoughts and thoughts are normally a bit jumbled and repetitive ... at least mine are if I'm thinking about one problem for a prolonged amount of time or rather when thinking about how to approach said problem... ;-)  
Right, time for me to go to bed. (Having a busy week(end), as nice as it is, can be bloody tiring ^^)  
TBC in a few hours :)


	10. Ch9: Past Demons and Modern Difficulties

**AN: **Now, for the second (the first 'real') chapter today:  
I think it's obvious that "..." and '...' are speech and thoughts respectively (well mostly) ;) And in this chapter ~...~ means it's an SMS.  
This was a bloody hard chapter to name. I'm still not sure about the name because it doesn't really cover the whole chappie, but it's the best I could come up with ^^

**Warnings: **the usual and one or two swear words.

**Disclaimer: **I still don't own Draco or anything from the HPverse. I'm just borrowing them in a non-profit-sort-of-way. Or well the only 'profit' I make, is feedback (reviews) but I don't think that counts. Still, THANK YOU for everyone who reviewed. No money is ever going to be earned with this.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Draco. I didn't mean to offend you. I'm just… not sure what to make of what you said. I mean, I don't know your boss… Nor do I know her personality. I mean, would you have freaked out like that if it had been Lynn? You would have had her head, maybe, but I highly doubt that you would have freaked. After all, you know what Lynn is like…. Your boss' probably different but I don't know her, you know? So I can't judge… You need to tell me more about her if you want me to help you clear this mess up. And I want to help you, you know?"

'Malfoy' didn't want to listen to that stupid muggle anymore but even that part of Draco couldn't deny that Glen was right. He would have snapped at Lynn (royally) but he wouldn't have freaked. Most likely he'd have freaked her out by making her cry or something but he would have only been annoyed. And that got him thinking. Why exactly had he freaked? The old Draco would have given his boss a piece of his mind and threatened her – even without his cronies. So why hadn't he? Why had he let her throw him off like that? It didn't seem to make any sense.

He sighed inwardly. "Alright. Talk."

"How did she act? I mean beforehand. 'Cause I'm wondering if there was more about her behaviour that was 'alarming' … well, which made your alarm bells ring so to speak…?"

Draco shrugged. "I don't know. I can't really pinpoint what it was, but something about her made my skin crawl. Somehow she reminded me of…" He discontinued and blanched. Bellatrix. She had reminded him of his aunt Bella.

He didn't know when he had stood up, but now he sank back down onto the couch. "Bella. She reminded me of Bella. Oh, Merlin."

Glen stared at him waiting for an explanation, but Draco had forgotten he wasn't alone.

Why did she remind him of Bellatrix? She hadn't seemed raving mad, sadistic and she didn't look like Bella either. But something… something about her posture had reminded him of her. The way she moved… It was creepy how well he knew aunt Bella's habits considering the amount of time he'd known her – but on the other hand she had lived with his family in Malfoy Manor during that time.

He still had nightmares about that time. Especially about the prisoners they had and the amount of 'fun' they had brought Bella. Not to mention that the combination of Bella and endearments meant pain and torture would surely follow. He felt sick when he thought about it.

Suddenly he jumped off the couch and ran into the bathroom where he was sick.

Glen ran after him. "Draco?" He sounded worried.  
"'m alright. Don' worry." He groaned and stood up. "Eurgh." He walked over to the sink and rinsed his mouth. "Sorry."

"Ya know, if I didn't know better, I'd say you're acting pregnant."  
Draco stared and then dissolved into a fit of laughter. "Pregnant? Sure as hell not. I don't have the necessary equipment."

'Although, uncle Sev once mentioned one crazy Potions master in Australia who was working on a potion to rectify that - needless to say that his project is a complete failure and has been for the last 50 years. The only thing his potion did was kill its probands. Stupid lunatic. Who the hell would be stupid enough to combine Aconite, Scarab Beetles and Frog brain in one potion? How the hell could a potions master be that insane? Even I know that such a mixture is at best instantly deadly upon ingestion and at worst bloody volatile while brewing. _I_ know that since second year.'

He got himself back under control. 'Hm. Interesting. It seems I trust him. Normally I would have only laughed like that in front of Pans, Greg and Vince… oh and Blaise. Weird, but I'll trust my instincts I guess.' He felt slightly confused but then shrugged.

"Thanks, I guess." He smiled tentatively. "Your questions helped. Now I know why I reacted the way I did. The woman reminded me of someone… Someone you really don't want to know. I sure as hell didn't want to know her and we were related."

'Shit. I shouldn't have said that. I really don't want to talk about Bella and even if I did, it would be impossible to talk about her and staying clear of so many other topics…. Damn it to hell.'

"You don't want to talk about it." It wasn't a question, but he nodded anyway.  
"I can't talk about it, not yet anyway."  
Glen only nodded in acceptance. "That's okay. But if you want to talk, we'll be there. All three of us. Although, I guess you should rather talk to Cassie or me. Lynn's a bit… She's a sweetie, but she tends not to take some things serious enough, while concentrating too much on others."

Draco grinned. "Yeah, I figured as much." Glen rolled his eyes in return.

"Oh, by the way, this Wednesday, Cassie's family is going to visit us." He shuddered. "They're nice… but somehow, Pelagius thinks I have a crush on his sister. And he's quite protective. Her mum is okay, though."

Raising a brow, Draco walked to the kitchen. "Protective, hm?"  
Glen snorted. "Hell, yeah. And obviously I'm not good enough for her, nevermind that I'm not interested. No matter how often I tell him that I'm gay or she says that it's not like that… he still gives me a speech every time he's here about how I don't deserve someone as perfect as his sister and that he'd kill me if I broke her heart." He filled himself a glass of water.

'Really… sounds to me as if he were interested… At least I remember Blaise talking that way about Pansy to that guy… what was his name again? On the Christmas party at the Parkinsons'. But we all knew that he wanted to shag the guy.' Draco shook his head. 'But it was funny. Blaise bending over backwards to convince the guy that he and Pansy wasn't going to work or whatever. Pity though that the boy was already happily engaged to a Greengrass… No clue which cousin that was though. On the other hand that made the whole ordeal even funnier.'

"Glen? Are you sure that he ain't interested in you?"  
Glen spluttered. "WHAT? Are you nuts, Black?"  
Grinning Draco shook his head. "Nope. Think about it for a minute." He winked at him.

Grumbling Glen left the kitchen and Draco swore to himself to have an eye in things the next evening.

* * *

"He, Dray!"  
He flinched at the name. "Lynn! Don't call me that!" She only grinned.  
"Oh, come on, Dray. Relax. … What the hell did you do to Glen? He's kinda sulkin'. It's weird, ya know?"  
"Huh?"  
"Well, he ain't hearing anything. Didn't even greet me when I came home. Really strange…. Anyway, how was your day?"  
"Weird."  
"Oh, come on. Details?" She winked at him, he snorted.  
"You're incorrigible, aren't you?"  
Lynn's grin broadened. "Course, what the fuck did you think?" He rolled his eyes and groaned.  
"There was a little incident with my boss. Oh, by the way, I found a job yesterday… nothing special but it's a start. Anyway… my boss annoyed me a bit… so to speak."  
"Really?" She raised a brow.  
"Well… yeah. She was acting a bit _overly familiar._"  
"Got the hint, but I'll ignore it, Dray." She stuck her tongue at him, and left him standing in the kitchen, taking a bread roll with her to the living room.

'What the bloody hell just happened?' Draco stared at her retreating back but for some reason he couldn't really be angry at her. He sighed. Glen had been right. It did make a difference who was acting overly familiar with him and how. He was just glad that he didn't have any contact to Pansy anymore, she would have never let him live that down. Didn't matter that Melinda was a muggle, the fact that he basically given a girl permission to call him "Dray" just now… Pansy would have _never_ let him live that down.

Suddenly he dissolved into another fit of laughter. The thought how the weasel would have reacted to this … He would have suggested Lynn go to 's and fast. There had to be something wrong with her brain to want to call Malfoy something like that.

"Draco? You alright." Cassie sounded incredulous.  
"Yeah. I'm fine. Sorry, Cass…" He gasped for air and then forced himself to calm down. "Sorry. Just had to think about a former classmate's reaction to something Lynn said just now."  
She blinked in surprise. "Cass? Normally only Lynn calls me that… Oh, well, I guess it's okay." She shrugged. "You seem nice enough."  
Now it was his turn to blink in surprise but then he smiled. "Okay, Cass." And he didn't know what came over him but he continued:  
"Then I guess it's only fair if I allow you to call me Dray, since Lynn just dubbed me 'Dray'." He rolled his eyes and winked at her. Smiling, she nodded.  
"Okay then, Dray."  
Pansy would so not let him live this down.

'Today really was a weird day… But somehow, as much I feel uncomfortable with the …well, intimacy of being called by a nickname like that… It's kinda nice. Dray doesn't remind me of Lucius – unlike 'Draco'. Dray Black would have been a funny name. Luckily there's no one that name really reminds me of – except for that innocent Azkaban-inmate. Sirius Black supposed murderer of the Potters. And the only things I know about the guy is that he was innocent, an animagus (a dog) and Potthead's godfather.'

Ignoring those thoughts he went into his room and grabbed Myrtle.  
"Hey there, sweetie. Miss me?" He draped her across his neck and picked his mobile phone up. He supposed it was time he checked how much he remembered from Lynn's short crash course. It had been obvious that she had expected to already know half the stuff and he hadn't had the heart to tell her otherwise so his lesson had been, well, really short and covering pretty much everything – except the most basic things.

With the manual he sat on his bed and after reading it he tried things out.

~Hello. I guess I am returning your test message.~

~No need 2 wr8 evrythng out. U cn shrtn thngs.~

~what?~

~I meant 'no need to write everything out, you can shorten things.'~

~Right…~

~o, come on D, u act as if u nvr read sth like t (1) ~

~Lynn! What in the bloody world are you writing?~

~Srsly? Hl Sht!~

~You know, forget it.~

Sighing he shut his mobile down. So much for that. Even though he had definitely managed to send a sms or rather more than one, he was still unable to read the … code muggles seemed to use for writing such messages.

Typically. He managed one thing only to be thrown back immediately. He absently ran his fingers over Myrtle's head. He knew that she liked that if she could purr she would.

(Potter had told him that after he had apparently held a conversation with her once in eighth year when Draco had forgotten her at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall – wasn't his fault either, he had been dragged away by some second years because a group of fifth year Gryffindors had been ganging up on a Slytherin first year. The whole ordeal had annoyed him to no end and given way to a half-an-hour-long conversation between Potter and Myrtle).

Myrtle unwrapped herself, slithered down his arm and curled around his lower arm and wrist with her head resting on top of the back of his hand, hissing almost inaudibly in a calming manner. 'Hm, seems like she wants me to relax.' He sighed. If even Myrtle thought it necessary to reassure him… he must still be pretty freaked subconsciously for her to act that way.

But did that really surprise him? He had never really dealt with his memories of the war, of Bellatrix inside his home, of the dungeons of the manor… He should have known that his demons would show sometime. To be honest, he did, he just hoped that it would be later, that he didn't have to deal with it anytime soon… but maybe a year of repressed horrors and pent up feelings of anger, despair, self-loathing and fear was all he could get. Maybe his time was up.

* * *

**AN2:**THX for reading, people.

(1) originally that was "t" and an at-sign but since ff doesn't allow links, the "at" got deleted *sigh* Sorry about that. ... I have to admit, I pity Draco for having to try to read what Lynn wrote. Hey, even I - as a "muggle" - have difficulties sometimes with deciphering the abbreviations some of my friends (yes, those people one is supposed to know in real life ;) ) use... I can't imagine how it must be for him who never laid eyes on such a message before xD

Anyway, tbc next week.


	11. Ch10: Domestic Chaos

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own Harry Potter. Neither do I own Doctor Who, which is mentioned below.  
No money is made of this fan-fiction. (Seriously, as if an author would post a ff to his own fiction...)

**Warnings: **the usual, one or two swear words and mentioning of something that could be considered abuse.

**AN:** Sorry, I'm a few hours late - again. I had overnight guests. Considering how many things lately came up on saturday nights, seriously for months there was basically nothing, and now... I'll change my regular update date from Saturday night (Around midnight) to Saturday night or sometime on Sunday.

I had no clue what to name this Chapter so bear with me, please.

* * *

The next day was better… and worse. Better because he now knew what he found creepy about his boss meaning he could ignore it and worse because now that he knew why he reacted to her the way he did, he was even wearier of her than before. He might not show how uncomfortable he felt but he couldn't lie to himself. He knew she scared him in a way that had nothing to do with her personally. He just could not change the fact that she reminded him of Bella – and Bella still scared him and always had, even though she now was dead.

She was the stuff of his nightmares as a child – when he was little and did not behave – before the more corporal punishments started – Lucius had always threatened that 'aunty Bella' would come and visit him. He knew nothing about her then, but _she _had been the 'monster under his bed'.

And then years later, she had come to live with them. The only one that had not went mad in Azkaban – at least according to what _He_ had said – because she had already been raving mad _before_ she was imprisoned. And yet her devotion, her love, for _Him _had been almost palpable.  
His mother had once lamented that it was the reason for her madness.

Other than the whole Mary-Ann-Bella-business his day at work was not worth mentioning. He had spent hours sorting a tower of files alphabetically – by hand of course; even though he itched to use magic he refrained.

Coming home was the interesting part of the day. First he was unable to enter the house – he was hindered by a seemingly hysteric Lynn that threw herself in his arms, sobbing. He blinked in surprise.  
"He died!" She wailed. "Ten died!"  
"What? Who died?" He hugged her comfortingly.  
"Ten…" She sniffled.

Cassie came down the stairs and groaned. "LYNN! Get yourself together, girl! He is just a bloody character from a bloody TV show."  
"But, but, but,… It's TEN!" She cried.  
Draco had no idea what they were talking about and Cassie shook her head in exasperation. Carefully she extracted Lynn from Draco's embrace and shooed her up the stairs. Raising a brow in question Draco finally entered the house.

"Don't ask." Glen said upon entering the hall, startling Draco. "She always gets like this when her favourite character of a TV show, a movie or a book dies." He sighed. "Though I don't really understand what the big deal is about ten… It only means that now there'll be eleven."  
"What?"  
"Oh. Err, sorry. You see, in this show whenever the main character dies he gets kind of reborn into another body… thus the numbers." Glen shrugged. "So I don't see her point, I mean, he survives anyway."

"YOU IMBECILE! SO WHAT IF THE DOCTOR SURVIVES?! IT'S NOT GOING TO BE TEN ANYMORE!"

Draco just grabbed Glen and dragged him into his room. "Okay. Apparently that is important…. But… what's a TV show?" He stared at the floor. "I mean, I know what a movie is and what a TV is but…"  
Glen sighed. "Oh my, how the bloody hell do I explain that? A TV show is a series of short movies from one continued story? It consists of many episodes… an episode is like a chapter in a book?"  
Draco nodded. "Alright."

"The next time she comes running towards you hysterically wailing that someone died… just ignore her."  
"Does it happen often?"  
"Once or twice a month."  
"Oh."  
"Three times tops. She doesn't do it with movies or episodes she has seen before – at least not normally."

Draco rolled his eyes and took Myrtle out of her cage.  
"Can I…. can I touch her?"  
"Huh?" Draco stared at Glen in surprise. "Sure, here." He handed her to Glen who seemed unsure how to hold her and carefully dropped her in his lap. She didn't seem to like that position though for she climbed him and draped around his neck, cocking her head and then hissing something.

"She likes you."  
"R-really?" Glen did seem a little uncomfortable with her around his neck.  
"Don't worry, she's no Constrictor. She only drapes herself around the necks of people she likes. You should feel honoured. You're the third person to achieve this honour though I don't really think the other guy counts. I'm not sure if I as her owner count, but he certainly doesn't." Draco grinned.  
"Why not?"  
"He can speak with snakes." He said in a mysterious way – while inwardly he sniggered. Of course the guy could speak with snakes. It was the bloody Boy-Who-Lived-Twice! (Although Draco did pity him for that name.)

"He can speak with snakes?" Glen sounded bemused and Draco only shrugged in response – and he was glad that Glen had not been able to see Myrtle's head for she had nodded to his statement. Most likely it was coincidence, but still.

A knock on the door and Cassie stuck her head in.  
"There you are, boys. I was looking for you. Nice new accessory by the way. She looks good on you." She winked. "Anyway, I don't know if anyone told you that my family would visit tonight, Draco – sorry that I forgot to tell you… It slipped my mind." She looked apologetic.

"It is okay." Draco smiled slightly. "Did you manage to calm the bedlamite down?"  
"The what?" Both stared at him.  
"Err… the mad one? The hysterical one? Lynn?"  
"Bedla… what? But yes, I calmed her down." Cassie looked at him in confusion.

Apparently she did not know what a bedlamite was… Maybe it was a term only used in the magical world? It would surprise him for he had thought that it was a general term – but then again, maybe he shouldn't take the Granger girl as a norm for muggles. She had definitely known it – had explained what it meant to that idiot of a Weasel when some Hufflepuff called Lovegood by that name.

And if she did not know that word, then that meant a whole new lot of problems for him most likely. It implied that his vocabulary was different from a muggle's and he did not know how different. He knew that he would not know technical terms and they would not know magical ones, but he had thought that every-day language was pretty much the same, that words that were neither technical nor magical would be the same in both worlds. Yet apparently it was not so.

He sighed, once again despairing if this had been a bad idea.  
Probably sensing his discomfort Glen jumped in and asked Cassie something about her family. Draco had no idea what he had asked but was glad that it filled the awkward silence.

They both then left him to his thoughts… well, more like, the three of them did. Glen took Myrtle along still draped around his neck.

Lost in thought he sat there for a while, pondering what to do. These days he wished he had had any friend amongst the muggleborns, someone he could have asked for help, for advice… But he had no one.

The only "friend" he had was Blaise and that guy would never understand why he left, how he could lower himself as such. Not that Blaise really had anything against muggles, he just thought that both worlds should not mix and that muggleborns should decide to which they belonged. Any other friends he once had, he lost to the war in one way or another – and even before, he did not think they were real friends…. More like little business partners in a way.

Having enough of such depressing thoughts, he exited his room to ask the others if there was anything to do before Cassie's family came. He was promptly sent to occupy Melinda who immediately dragged him outside for a little walk when he addressed her.

When they returned half an hour later, he knew everything there was to know about her favourite TV show. He had not been in a mood to talk so he had asked her to explain her earlier despair. And of course since he did not know the show, she had to explain the whole thing to him.

And he learned a lot about Lynn, too. She was quite passionate about something she cared about, but she also never forgot that it was only a TV show and therefore not real. But at the same time she did not care, she just said it was like it was another world in every book, in every movie and that she considered everything to be reality inside the story like a parallel world – it did not make much sense to him, but on the other hand he knew that some wizards had created themselves some pockets of a parallel worlds to hide in during the war, so maybe what she was doing was the muggle version of such a thing. But unlike them she had not lost her sense for reality.

"Oh, my… What the hell did you people do?" the living room they returned to was a complete mess.  
Cassiopeia stared at the floor. "I, I slipped and knocked the bookshelf over, which crashed the couch table and… well…"  
"And when I wanted to help her up, I tripped over a table leg, and…"

Draco groaned. "Alright. Out you three… Do whatever you have to do to prepare, you're cooking something, right? At least it smells faintly burnt from the kitchen."  
"Oh, shit!" Cassie cursed and ran into the kitchen but Glen and Lynn stayed behind so Draco started spitting out orders. "Glen, get changed, your shirt's ripped. Lynn how where those books sorted?" Glen blinked, nodded and left.  
"Alphabetically by author." Lynn stared at him.  
"K, now get out and help Cassie in the kitchen."

As soon as she left, he closed the door behind her and righted the bookshelf magically and then he started to sort some of the books by hand so that he would look as if he were working manually and then let the rest sort themselves into the shelf. It was quite tiring as he had to take care to only use low level spells and do them wandlessly but it was faster than doing it manually and Cassie's guest were due in 35 minutes.

There was nothing he could do about the table though. He gathered the splinters and then called Glen and told him to get rid of them and clean the floor while he went to see what was salvageable from the kitchen.

Needless to say, the meal was completely burned.

Sighing he then evicted the girls from the kitchen and checked their inventory.  
"Right… Does your family eat meat?" After a confirming nod he continued.  
"Good. One of you go by some turkey or some chicken escalope. A pound, or a bit more. Now shush and let me work." He closed the door in their faces and began to improvise a sauce and some sides trying desperately to remember what he ate with escalope in Hogwarts to give him any indication what would work.

Chopping like a mad man, he started mixing herbs and spices together, when a knock on the door put him out of his cooking trance.  
"Yes?"  
Cassie stuck her head in handing him a bag.  
"Thanks, now, let me work."  
"Let me set the dishes at least, this time. You're helping enough already and the time is short… I'm so sorry."  
Draco laughed slightly. "Don't worry, it's okay. But go ahead as long as you don't interrupt me cooking, I don't care." He winked and a moment later he was alone again while Cass was carrying the dishes into the living room where they set up a table for tonight.

* * *

**AN2: **That's it for today. I hope you enjoyed it.  
I normally answer reviews directly but after 10 chapters, I decided to include a big THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed so far - especially Draco Severus Malfoy. So Thank you, guys. It means a lot to me :)  
TBC


	12. Ch11: Dinner

**AN: **I apologize beforehand if this chapter is faulty or seems rushed, I just finished writing it. It's not proof-read yet. I will do that tomorrow and re-upload the edited version then but I wanted to upload today and I don't think I can efficiently proof-read anything right now.  
I wrote this chapter on such short notice 'cause I erased about 4500 words because I really didn't like the way they turned out and I couldn't bring myself to post the story that way... but erasing that much meant that I ultimately lost two and a half pre-written chapters. . Now I have to write a lot, I want to have some pre-written chaps as a cushion if there's a week when I don't have time to write *Sigh* I should probably stop complaining and start writing in that case, right? Sorry. On with the story.

**Disclaimer:** I don't know about you people, but, this is a fan fiction. a FAN ficton. It should be obvious that I don't own harry potter or any of its characters. And as I'm posting this on an open website it should also be obvious that I'm not making money with this.

**Warnings**: The usual, mention of violence *cough* not really, but oh well. And wrong spelling and stuff at least until tomorrow.

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Cooking a full dish last minute was a little stressful to say the least – but then again he hadn't been Snape's second best student in his year for nothing. He was used to cooking, well, brewing with a deadline. A deadline that was sometimes near impossible to manage if Snape had been in a bad mood.

It was quite refreshing actually to once again have a deadline to work with. It brought back memories – good memories from before the war, before the return but most importantly they were memories of his godfather.

But now was not the time to dwell on them he had work to do and he had to do it fast. He regretted that the time would not allow him to do anything extravagant. Even though he was technically not the host it still didn't sit right with him that he could only prepare one meal without starters or dessert. It felt wrong. Growing up they never had guests for lunch or dinner without a multi-course dinner. But he probably shouldn't compare wizarding aristocracy to general muggles.

Fifteen minutes left. Draco had to admit to himself that he wouldn't be able to make it on time… He was going to need a few minutes more for the dish to be ready but as this wasn't a potion lesson and even if Cassiopeia's family were on time, they'd still need some time for greetings and such, he figured it'd be fine. Still he was frantically double-checking everything in the hopes of finishing sooner.

Ten minutes left. A knock on the kitchen door broke through his cooking trance – again. This time it was Glen who stuck his head through the door and asked if he could help with anything.  
A hissed "no" was the only answer Glen got, but it must have sounded somewhat strange – the guy paled and left so fast it could be said he fled. Draco shook his head and decided to ignore it – he didn't have time for that right now.

Five minutes left. Now it was abundantly clear that there was no way he'd make it on time. Uncle Severus would have had his head for that he had always expected the impossible from him or well, the near impossible. Unlike Lucius, Severus had known that there was a difference between absolutely improbably and near impossible and "impossible". Maybe Lucius had known but he had never differentiated between the two cases. Draco stopped that train of thought. No was definitely not the time to think about Lucius and the messed up childhood he'd had. He went back to his cooking.

Cassie's family arrived exactly on time. He could hear the others greeting them in the hall but he ignored it – he was busy after all. Or rather he ignored before he became the topic of the conversation outside.

"So where's your new roomie?" The female voice that he didn't know must have been Cassie's mum.  
"Draco? Oh, he's in the kitchen." That was Lynn.  
"Really? So you finally found someone who can cook? Oh, come on, guys. It's almost common knowledge that you people can't cook." That boyish voice must be Cassie's brother then. What was his name again? Something beginning with "P"…  
"Oh, I got to greet him!" Cass' mother again.  
"NO!" and that shout had to be Glen. "Don't. Wait until his finished. Do not interrupt him while he's cooking. I don't want a murder to occur in our house."  
"A murder? Don't you think you're exaggerating, Glen?"  
"No! You should have seen his face when I asked him if I could help." Glen's voice sounded shaky – had he really been that intimidating? 'Oops.'  
"It can't have been that bad."  
"Trust me, it was. And you should have heard him… then again, the look in his eyes was a lot worse than the sound of his voice. Scary. I thought I was going to get butchered."  
"I have to admit, this Draco does not sound like someone I'd like to meet." Cassie's mother sounded worried. 'I can hear you, people.' Draco felt annoyed.  
"Oh, no." Lynn chimed in. "He's an alright guy – really nice normally. His just… _very_ dedicated when it comes to cooking. But he's also a genius when it comes to that. His cooking abilities are brilliant, I've never tasted anything quite like it." Her voice sounded dreamily.  
"It's true." Cassiopeia. "He cooked for us once – it was delicious. But that time also, he forbade all of us to enter the kitchen while he cooked. He's some sort of cookaholic."

Draco blinked. That title was new. He remembered a lot of names he had been called over the years, some were flattering, most were not, but never that.

"Let's move to the living room, right? Mum, Pela, you can sit wherever you want. Glen, since you've already been almost-butchered once today, mind going to the kitchen and asking Draco about how much time he needs?"

"WHAT? … argh, alright." If Draco hadn't been annoyed that he was about to be interrupted he would have laughed.

"Five more minutes." He said instead as soon as Glen opened the door. "Now get out." And the guy was gone again.

A few minutes later when the meal was finished safely transferred to the table and all six of them were seated around the said table, Draco was finally formerly introduced.

"Mitéra, Pela, this is our new roomie, Draco. Dray, these are – in case you haven't noticed" she winked at him while saying that "my mother and my brother Pelagius."  
Draco smiled politely. "Nice to meet you."  
A chorus of the same answered him.

A short awkward silence ensued, no one quite knew what to say, until Lynn broke it. "Well, it certainly looks delicious. Can we eat now?" her over-eager voice made them all laugh. And they looked expectantly at Draco.  
"Are you asking me? Cass, you're the host…. But well, yeah, sure, dig in."

Then there was silence again but this time it was companiable and comfortable.  
Aside from some "pass the salt" or similar sentences.

After dinner Draco got a few compliments but he shrugged him off, saying that it couldn't have been that good.  
"What are you talking about, boy, it was delicious!"  
Suddenly Glen laughed, he had seen the grin that Draco sent Lynn's way.  
"I see. No, he's right, it couldn't have been that good."  
"Huh?"  
"You're not offering sexual favours this time."  
Mrs Peleus seemed shell-shocked while Draco's roommates dissolved into fits of laughter, with Pelagius following close behind.  
Draco only smiled, gathered the dishes and carried them into the kitchen.

Glen followed him with the second half of the dishes.  
"Allow me a short break from being stared at – and let me help with the dishes. I'm beginning to think you were right…" And Glen did not sound like he liked it.

"What's wrong?"  
"Nothing's wrong."  
"Yeah, right."  
Glen sighed.  
"Why do you seem uncomfortable at the thought of Pelagius liking you?" Draco asked quietly – and if Glen's violent flinch was any indication, the guy really did not feel comfortable with it.

Draco closed the kitchen door and turned towards Glen. "What happened?" he asked softly. 'Why the hell am I concerned about a muggle I've first met not a week ago?'

Glen stared at the floor. "Nothing." He mumbled.  
"Glen…"  
"No, I mean… nothing happened with Pela or anything. I just…"  
Draco watched him in concern.

"I don't want a boyfriend after the last one I had. Let's just say he was… 'otherwise inclined' and merely experimenting. Apparently he thought it was fun to play around with 'the gay kid'. To use him, to shag him and then dump him." Glen sounded bitter.

Draco felt angry on his roommates' behalf. "What the hell? Why would someone do something like that?"  
"Because I'm gay?"  
"Yeah, I know you are, you said that already! But what kind of a reason is that? That's like treating you like a mud…."

He discontinued and blanched. He had been about to say 'like a mudblood' and that told him a few things about himself that he really didn't want to know. Looking at Glen now, seeing how hurt he was after having been treated like that, Draco couldn't understand how he could have been so cruel. At the same time he knew exactly why he'd been like that – he had been raised that way. Lucius had raised him to be cruel. And he despised himself for it. If he'd ever met Granger again, he'd apologize to her.

"That guy had no right to do that." 'just like I had no right to do any of the things I did.' "What does it matter if you're gay? What's the difference?"  
Glen blinked in surprise. "Well, it made one. He thought I was … defected or something."  
"he WHAT?! How the hell does being gay make you defected?"

"In his mind, it did." His voice sounded defeated, no, scratch that, Draco thought, his whole demeanour screams 'defeat'.  
"In the mind of many people, it does.", continued Glen, "and sometimes I wonder if they're"  
"They're _not_ right!" Draco interrupted him. "There stupid, prejudiced and condescending arseholes." 'Just like I was, I guess.' He added in his thoughts.

A shrug was his only response.  
"I mean it, Glen. They're wrong. There's nothing wrong with being gay!" 'Hell, I've seen a lot stranger things. I remember the story about uncle Caius and his… No, I don't want to remember that one. _That_ was disgusting.'

Draco shocked himself – before he knew it, he'd given Glen a short hug. "Now. Chin up. Go out there and ignore his staring and if he doesn't stop, tell me and I'll beat him up for you." He winked at Glen. As if he had a chance against the guy. He had no experience whatsoever with a real physical fight, one without magic, and he never had to fight his own fights – that's what Vince and Greg had been for.

Glen sniggered. "I'd like to see that." He shook his head and grinned, still a little insecure but at least it was genuine.

Meanwhile back at the table they seemingly had passed the time with the Peleus family talking about people they knew – if Draco hadn't been told that Cassie didn't do gossip he'd have called their conversation an update on the rumour mill.

When he re-entered the living room and set back down, Cassie's mother interrupted the social updates to interrogate Draco. Apparently she needed to know what kind of guy moved in with her daughter.

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**AN2:** I hope that chapter wasn't too bad.  
Anyway, Thanks for reading & see you next week (hopefully with me having a few cushioning chapters again)  
tbc...


	13. Ch12: After Dinner Investigations

**Disclaimer: **I don't own HArry Potter, I don't own any Ewoks (Star Wars) and I don't own any other Fiction that is mentioned somewhere in my fan fiction. And there is a well known quote near the end of the chapter that I also do not own. I'm not entirely sure who said it first though otherwise I'd write down the quotee. I am not making any profit with this.

**Warnings:**Still the same as in the previous chapters.

**AN:** Well, it's a longer chapter again but it is mostly conversation. But well, conversation is needed to prepare for the further plot of the story. Conversation means Information after all.

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"So. What do you do for a living, Draco?"  
"Right now, I'm a gofer."  
"Oh, you're an errand boy? Where?"  
"Errand boy? Well, I guess that's another way to describe it." Draco smiled. 'A better way actually.' "At a small local firm."  
"I see. Do you like your work?"  
He shrugged. "It's alright, I guess. I haven't been working there for long but so far it's okay."  
"Really?" She smiled. "Alright then. Where you from originally?"  
"Wiltshire."  
"And why did you come to London?"

Draco could see the cautious glances his roommates, especially Glen, send his way.  
"I needed a change of scenery."  
"A change of scenery?" Mrs Peleus sounded disapproving. "So you just left home. How could you do that to your parents."  
Glen gasped and the girls looked distinctly uncomfortable as the temperature in the room dropped below zero.  
"There wasn't much to leave by the time I left." Draco stated coldly. "And I didn't do anything to my parents by leaving. They left first."  
"No parent would leave their child!" She sounded outraged.  
"Well, you don't know MY so-called parents! Ever since…" He took a deep breath before he said something he'd regret. "Ever since they joined _him_ they stopped being my parents."  
Cass' mother blinked. "What?"  
Glen jumped in. "Ever since they joined whom?" He sounded confused.  
"They joined a goddamned CULT!" He was seething which probably wasn't the best idea considering that his wand was still in his room but he had never really been able to show his anger at Lucius' actions. And it seemed like his anger wanted out. Now.  
Lynn blinked in surprise. "Oh."  
"Well that explains why you don't want to talk about them…" mumbled a shocked Glen. Cassie only nodded dumbly.

Apparently Mrs Peleus did not feel comfortable with the way the conversation was going so she tried to change the topic.  
"Where did you go to school?"  
"A boarding school in Scotland."  
"Did you like it there?"  
He shrugged. "Yeah. I guess so. I got into an unhealthy amount of trouble… It was fun though. Especially aggravating the… Harry." Looking back, he actually felt amused by their antics.  
"The Harry?" Lynn raised a brow which caused Draco to chuckle lightly.  
"No. the golden trio… which consisted of Harry and his two… sidekicks." 'but yeah. THE Harry would probably also work since he's the Harry Potter. Poor bastard.'

"So, you were a trouble maker at school?" Mrs Peleus did not exactly sound thrilled.  
"No, Potter was the trouble maker. Trouble found me by association since I was considered his rival. Which is kind of ridiculous, considering…" 'that he is presumably the most powerful wizard alive.' Draco added in his thoughts.  
"Considering?"  
"Considering I never stood a chance against him. "  
"So you were second best at school?"  
"No. Well, yes, but not to him. I was second to Granger – she was always on top of every class."  
"But then, why were you considered his rival?"  
"Well, we were at a boarding school. I was considered his rival outside of classes. It was well known from first year that no one would be able to best Granger – I think there was only one time where she failed to get full points. Well, apart from Div. But she quit that class."  
They all stared at him.

"What? Potter and I got off on the wrong foot and were somehow made into rivals after that. But that had little to do with school work and everything to do with extracurricular activities." He shrugged. "And the fact that he was best friends with a guy whose family had a feud with mine for generations didn't exactly help. Nothing violent, but a strong dislike remained." 'Actually… I never really looked at things that way and I thought I was playing things down here… but I can't help to think there's a simple truth to what I'm saying… We did get off on the wrong foot after all. And we've both been holding grudges because of it.' He sighed.

"That was… quite insightful." Cassie's mother sounded surprised.  
"Well I've grown up since then – we all have."  
"So you say."  
Draco shrugged. It didn't seem like he managed to get her approval but to be honest - he didn't really care about it either. Pelagius on the other hand was acting as if none of this concerned him and had begun reading a book he randomly picked out of their book shelf.

He was becoming uncomfortable with the stares of his roomies though.  
"What is it, guys?"  
"Nothing. You just surprised us… You don't really talk about yourself… or your past." Lynn stated matter-of-factly.  
"Yeah… I have my reasons for that, you know."  
Cassie nodded. "Yes. We know. Sorry about Mom dropping an investigation on you like that."  
"Hey! It's only natural that I want to know who's bunking with my girl."  
He could see all four others roll their eyes at that statement.  
"_That_ sounds like something a boyfriend would say." Mumbled someone and Draco only realised it had been him because everyone stared at him and then started to laugh.

Back in Slytherin he'd have basked in the attention or sneered at them in disdain but now he didn't know how to react so he did not react to it at all. His blank face seemed to make them uncomfortable in turn.

"Do _you_ have a girlfriend?" Mrs Peleus tried to break the awkward silence.  
"Hell no."  
"That was quick. Okay… boyfriend then?"  
"What? No! I don't... I'm single and not interested in any relationships at the moment."  
"So you're only interested in… you know… fun?" Pelagius asked to the shock of everybody else.  
"Wha? No! I'm not… looking for _anything_ right now! - Wait. Was that an offer?"  
"What?"  
"You better watch out, people might think you're interested."

"Why would I be interested? That's bull and you know it."  
"Oh come on, Pela, surely you have to admit that I'm gorgeous."  
Glen actually snorted at that while the girls stared at him in surprise. Pelagius face contorted in some sort of embarrassed anger and his mother watched the happenings with an amused air surrounding her.

"You… what? No." Pelagius spluttered causing all four roommates to laugh inwardly while they tried to keep a neutral face.  
"What, it's the truth, just admit it." Draco smiled arrogantly – inwardly he nearly died of laughter at the poor boys face. "I'm gorgeous and you know it."

"You!" shouted the boy angrily and then muttered something about an "arrogant bastard".  
"That I am, too." Draco smiled smugly. "Well, not the bastard part, my parents were already married for years when they had me but I am certainly arrogant and proud of it!" He sounded completely pleased with himself and Pelagius could only stare at him in disbelief, confusion, anger and was that contempt?

It was almost a pity that he soon realised he had been had.  
Glen couldn't manage to supress his laughter any longer and his laughter tore down the last control the girls might have had over theirs. To Draco's surprise the mother smiled at them indulgently.

He sniggered and winked at him. "Sorry, but you should have seen your face!"  
Pelagius grew beet red under the continuation of the three's laughter but somehow Draco could not bring himself to pity the guy – he had been asking for it. Kind of.

After that the conversation returned to the social updates. Desperately trying to escape the attention turned on him, Pelagius had jumped into a recollection of what the youths in their home area had been up to this past few months.

Lynn buttonholed Draco and Glen into a conversation about the difference between lime green and apple green. Frankly, neither Glen nor Draco had any idea what the deal was but they let her ramble on and contributed the necessary encouragements for her to go on.

It was obvious that Glen had no interest in participating in that conversation but he rather listened to Lynn's useless almost-discussion with herself than to acknowledge the only other conversation in the room. Draco was beginning to feel for him, he could see how uncomfortable Glen was becoming under Pelagius' returned stare. He was pretty sure now that he had been right. The boy was definitely interested in Glen.

After exhausting the topic of different shades of green, Lynn changed the topic to the possibilities of Ewoks really existing. Draco had no idea what Ewoks were but he decided to follow Glen's lead and deny their existence. From what he could gather by listening to Lynn and Glen, those so-called Ewoks were a primitive tribe of small bear-like people in some movie. Well, he had never heard of something like that so he was relatively sure that they did not exist – unlike the werewolves in their previous discussion about supernatural beings.

It somehow fascinated Draco how Lynn could switch between topics like that.  
By the time Cassie's family was leaving, they had also talked about the probability of some actor whose name Draco had already forgotten, being gay, the possibility that an intern at her workplace would not survive his internship because he was never paying attention to what he was doing or where he was going, the different ways to tie a tie and the upcoming concert of some band they apparently both liked – Draco had never heard of it but he refrained from telling them that fact.

After they left, they cleaned the living room and the girls went to bed. Glen wanted to follow them but Draco held him back.  
"You okay?"  
Glen nodded. "Yeah…. Yeah, I'm fine." He sighed.  
"That doesn't sound fine." There was a questioning note in Draco's voice.  
"I am fine. I just… I'm glad he left, okay? It was quite unnerving having him staring at me like that. I mean, did he even _try_ to hide it?"  
"Presumably. I don't think the girls noticed anything… If I hadn't known Blaise for as long as I did, I would not have noticed it either. Or rather, I would not have noticed the connotation of said stare."  
Glen flinched. "So I was right. You were right."  
"Seems like it."  
"Great! As if I didn't have enough problems already!" He sounded outraged but Draco guessed that that was just a cover up. He was also guessing that Glen was… scared for lack of a better word.  
"Relax. You won't have to deal with him for a while now, right? And if he continues to bother you the next time they visit, I'll distract him." … what the hell was he doing meddling in some muggles business? He did not even know if he would continue to live there after the first month. He certainly hoped he would, somehow he had taken to those three. As unbelievable he'd have thought that notion a week ago it was the truth.  
"Thanks." Glen offered a tired smile. "well, I'll go to bed then. G'night."  
"Night."

Draco went to his room and changed into some sweat pants. He needed some air after the conversation about his parents. Now that the distraction of Lynn, Glen and Pelagius was gone, he felt like he was suffocating inside so he decided to go for a short run. It didn't matter to him that it was the middle of the night by now. The only difference was that he packed his wand just to be safe. He did not plan on using it though.

The air outside was chilled and clear – well as clear as the air in London's suburbs could be. He loved running in the cold. It reminded him of Quidditch. It reminded him of the time when the world was still alright before all hell had broken loose after fourth year. The times where he used to go for a jog in the morning to stay fit. The weasel might have thought that he bought his place on the team but he was wrong. He had worked hard to get that place. And he had also worked hard to keep that place. Yeah, sure, Lucius had made sure to interfere once he found out that Draco was interested in playing Seeker – apparently it did not do for a Malfoy to fail to get what he wants. Yes, well, everyone knew how that played out in the end – Lucius sure as hell did not want to be in Azkaban but that was where he ended up. Life is, after all, what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.

Draco forced himself to think about something other than Lucius. He went through Lynn's points on lime and apple green just to keep his mind occupied. Surprisingly it worked. When he returned home half an hour later he was calm again. Quietly he went for a shower and then went to bed.

But sleep did not seem to want to come to him. He laid there for an eternity staring at the ceiling.  
"Damn!" He cursed and tiptoed into the kitchen to get a glass of water only to run into Cassie – figuratively speaking.  
"Hey."  
"Hey yourself. Couldn't sleep?"  
"Yeah." He shrugged.  
"Me neither." She sighed. "I'm worried about Mum. She's acting… weird."  
"Weird how?"  
She shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. I just…. Something seemed off earlier. And I don't know what it was. It makes me kind of nervous."  
He nodded unsure of what to say to that.  
"What about you? You ok? You seemed pretty… shaken earlier when mum asked about.. you know..." She broke off.  
"Yeah…" He frowned. "I don't really want to talk about them. But, yeah, I'm alright. Lynn's babbling about the colour green was distracting enough." He winked at her and she chuckled.  
"Right. Can't have been interesting but at least it had some use."  
"True. It felt nice. Having a conversation about… nothing. It can be somewhat soothing."  
Cassie gave a quiet laugh. "I'll keep that in mind. Well. Good night." She smiled and went back upstairs.

Taking a bottle of water with him, Draco returned to his room. Instead of going to bed he took Myrtle out of her cage and sat down on his bed to drink something.  
"What do you think? Hm, Myrtle? What do you think about them so far?" He asked quietly not really wanting an answer. He sighed. "What am I going to tell them? Now they're bound to ask questions about that… 'Cult'. Damn, why couldn't I keep my mouth shut? I need a story…"

Puzzling about what he would tell them, Draco finally fell asleep an hour later with Myrtle still draped around him.

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**AN2**: Well, that was that. I hope you liked it.  
I know the quote is linked to John Lennon most of the time but apparently other said almost the same thing before he did, so I'm not sure who to credit.

TBC next week =)


	14. Chapter 13: Hotties and Criminals

**AN: **I'm so, so sorry, guys. But this is what happens if you don'T ahve any back-up chapters (finished) and life decides to bite you in the... you know where. In the end things turned out ok but life had to turn my weekend upside down first. I apologize for being late.  
On a happier note, tommorrow I have a day off which I plan on dedicating to writing so that this won'T happen again. Writing meaning writing DB. I hate being late.

**Warnings:** short chapter and the usual.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter or any related characters. BlahBlahBlah. Seriously, this. is. a. fanfiction. a FANfiction. That should be a clue. Anyway, don't own, don't profit - you know the drill.

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The next morning he was woken by screams.  
"Sn..Sna…SNAKE!"  
Draco yawned. What in the world was going on? Only Myrtle could be meant with "Snake". But it didn't make much sense for his roomies to scream because of her even if she escaped his room.  
"Don't worry. That's only Myrtle. Though I'm surprised she's escaped to the hall." That was Lynn's voice. Sighing Draco got up and got dressed – well he got decent.

"Where did she run to?" He asked upon exiting his room.  
"GYAAH!"  
He blinked. 'What the hell?'  
"Morning." Lynn smiled at him – obviously she wasn't the one who squealed.  
"M'ning," he replied and then he blinked in surprise. There was another girl standing next to her. "Morning." He greeted the stranger.  
"Lynn? Who's the hottie?" 'Hottie?'  
"Oh, he's our new roommate, Draco. Dray, this is my bf, Isabelle."  
"Nice to meet you." He gave a tentative smile – for Lynn's sake more than anything else.  
"N..Nice t-to meet you, too." The girl stared at him.  
"So, where's my girl?"  
"Myrtle? She was slithering towards the kitchen…" Lynn grinned at him.  
He nodded his thanks and went to get Myrtle.

"Oh my god, he's hot!" Was that girl really that stupid or did she just not care that he could hear her perfectly fine?  
"Is he available?" Inwardly he groaned at her question.  
"No, I don't think he is." Lynn sounded indifferent.

Draco was searching for Myrtle, he wanted nothing more than to retreat back to his room and barricade the door. He didn't want to deal with something like this so early in the morning.  
"Ah. There." He picked Myrtle up and draped her around his neck.

"Pity. But I guess it's only natural for someone like him to have a girlfriend." 'I don't have a girlfriend either. I'm just not…' Draco's thoughts got interrupted by Lynn's words.  
"Oh, he doesn't. He's just not available."  
"Sooo, you have your eyes on him?" Draco felt his jaw drop.

Stunned silence followed that question-turned-statement until Lynn found her voice again.  
"What?" she sounded flabbergasted. "No. God, no. … No offense Dray." The last part was mumbled, he could barely understand it - needless to say, he did not take offense. "I'm not interested in him."  
"Sure, sure." 'That singsong voice is scary.' He shuddered.  
"Iz! I'm serious. I mean, yes, sure, he's gorgeous – even Cassie's brother had to admit that." Draco snorted at the grin in her voice. "But he's just… not a candidate, don't ask me why. That's just the way it is." She sounded slightly curious about it. "And I meant only that he is not interested in having a relationship or anything at the moment."  
"Is he gay?"

Draco's jaw dropped – again. What did that have to do with anything?  
"Nope. He just moved here, he wants some time to settle in and stuff."  
"So he's gay."  
"No he isn't." That was Glen. Draco decided to hide out in the kitchen until this conversation was over – to walk out there now would be way to embarrassing for all parties involved.  
"Trust me. He isn't. My gaydar tells me he's as straight as they get." His what? "Anyway, good morning girls." He could hear him walk away towards the bathroom.  
"Damn. Every time I see a hot guy, there's some… complication. Someone up there must hate me."  
"Oh, don't be so melodramatic, Iz!" Lynn was telling someone not to be overly dramatic? Had Voldemort finally decided he loved muggles or something?

Draco was cleaning the kitchen until the girls left a few minutes later. Somehow, he felt like back at the dorm. Overhearing some girls whining that all good boys (or girls) were already taken. Hearing someone talk about him. It was bloody annoying but it felt kind of nostalgic, too.

He returned Myrtle to her cage and then got ready for work.

When he was about to enter the building he was nearly run over by his boss.  
"SORRY! Oh, hi Draco! Go make some coffee! See you later!" And she was gone before he could respond.  
Upon entering the building Draco was told to go buy some ink cartridges. After activating the coffee maker he didn't even make it out of the front door before was told to go to the archives and sort all files that were scattered when one of the shelves collapsed last night.  
After returning with the stuff for the printers he went to the archives but was held up when he was told to bring some plans to another office in the building.  
When he finally made it to the archives he found out that not just one shelf collapsed but several. He was in the middle of restocking the second shelf when he was called away again by "Mary-Ann" as she reminded him to call her. That day was going to be a busy day apparently.

"Sorry to interrupt, hon, but I need your help with something. Whatever you were about to do can wait. Follow me." She grabbed his wrist and dragged him along. It was all he could do to stop himself from panicking. 'She's not Bella. She's not. Bellatrix is dead. She's not her.' Taking a deep breath he followed along. Only when they were half across the building did he realize that he was dragged around by a muggle. He figured that it was good news. It took him longer to think about something like that, maybe he was able to break habit and rid himself of Lucius influence a bit. – But if he was honest to himself… he probably had just been too scared to worry about such a thing. Imagine that. The great Draco Malfoy –scared. His year mates would have a field day over this.

Before he knew it he was in a wardrobe-like room, being measured and then told to change into a tux.  
"I need someone to accompany me to a lunch party. You're good-looking enough for the job."  
Draco supposed that it was meant as a joke but he still found it somewhat creepy.  
"Don't worry, dear, you'll just have to smile and look nice. I have no clue what idiot decided to do a lunch party – and on such short notice but now we have to attend. It's hosted by one of our biggest clients, so…. We'll have to comply. I'm really sorry hon, but whatever job you were supposed to do, will have to wait."  
Dumbfounded, Draco only nodded in response.  
"Great! Well, then. Let's go. Paul should have called a taxi by now." She linked arms with Draco and carried him off.

He felt like a figurehead the way his … 'Mary-Ann' showed him off. This lunch party thing reminded him of his father's business parties where he always had had to play the perfect little heir, not a toe out of line. It wasn't that different now.  
She introduced him – and he was supposed to smile and make nice. Pay a few compliments that made him feel sick but he made them anyways. Smile some more and listen attentively to whatever the person opposite him was saying. The random topics he had to talk about reminded him of Lynn. The weirdest topic being the efficiency of pocket watches.

They were greeting the tenth, twelfth business partner when it happened.  
"Hey aren't you the kid of that multi-billionaire Lucius Malfoy?"  
Draco cringed. "Who?"  
"Oh, you now, long blond hair? Good looking, too, apparently, well, according to my wife – and one hell of a haggler. No? You look an awful lot like his son."  
"No." he shook his head. "I don't know anyone like that."  
"Really? You look like the kids twin. Well, you're a bit older than he was when I last saw them at some business dinner, but… you sure look like him."  
Draco shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know, I've never met the people you're talking about."  
"What's your name, son?"  
"Black…" He cursed inwardly while hoping against hope that the guy did not remember his first name. But with his boss there, he could hardly lie about his first name. "Draco Black." 'Please, please don't remember my first name!' But he had no such luck.  
"HA! Now I know that you're lying! The son's name was Draco, too." '  
"I didn't…"  
Mary-Ann interrupted him. "So you lied about who you are?"

"No, I didn't." He lied. 'Yes, I did, but…'  
"I see. You're fired. Be happy I'm not calling the police."  
"WHAT?"  
"And now leave. I'd rather break convention by having no lunch date here by being here with a criminal."  
"I'm not a criminal!" 'Seeking asylum is no crime. I think.'  
"So you say."

Draco tried to defend himself but he didn't stand a chance. His boss had decided that he was guilty of whatever crime she decided he had committed and was not listening to reason. And Draco couldn't prove her wrong because technically she was right. He had once been Draco Malfoy even though he left that life behind. Still he tried to convince her they were wrong and overreacting which, admittedly, they were.

When she actually called security, he gave up. Even if he could have convinced her there were now more points against this job than for staying there. The attitude-change she had and the fact that she reminded him of Bella were a big part of those points against.  
He decided to scratch that job and find something else instead so he went home

Yet somehow he had the feeling that that wasn't the last time he heard from Mary-Ann.

* * *

**AN2:** I know that's not my best chapter but it was the best I could do with all the chaos. It's just a bit rough around the edges.  
In case anyone is wondering, Isabelle is Lynn's best friend and she came to get her because they arranged to go for breakfast. Isabelle is not important (yet). She still has a minor role to play but later on. I'm not going to tell you what kind of role she'll play, though. ;)  
TBC next weekend.


	15. Chapter 14: Cults, Past and Explanations

**AN:**I don't know what I'm doing wrong, or maybe I did something right... After the last short and relatively crappy chapter of 1300+ words (according to ffnet, 1500+ acc. to MWord), this is the longest chapter yet with ~3130 (3190) words... And to think I wanted to keep the chapters at a similar lenght throughout the story *sighs* I guess you could treat it as an apology for last week, but to be honest - I was on a roll. It wasn't planned, it just happened.

**Disclaimer:**Blah. Not owning HP, Not owning LotR, not making money.

**Warnings:** one or two swear words and some rather serious conversations or something...

* * *

When he came home, Cassie was surprised to see him and she asked him why he was back that early.  
"Lost my job."  
She blinked. "Why?"  
"Well, apparently, looking like someone and having the same first name is the same thing as being said someone and lying about who one is."  
"Come again?" she asked in confusion.  
"My boss dragged me to this… lunch party thing… There was someone who mistook me for someone else… They decided I was that person and was committing a crime or something. My boss fired me on the spot and even called security to have me removed."  
She stared at him. "What in the world..?"

Draco shrugged. "I don't know. And I don't really care, that job wasn't that great."  
She only nodded although it was obvious that she didn't believe him.  
"There are other jobs out there." She offered and it made him smile.  
"Yes, well, I'd think so, too." He grinned. "And if everything else fails – I could always write a book…"  
"You're an author?"  
"No. But I've seen quite a few unbelievable things in my life which I could make into a book." He winked at her. 'But I would never do it. It wouldn't be fair to any of the people involved. I could write about a book about how cults ruin families though.'

Suddenly he had to laugh. "I could always write a book about how to counter your gay dorm mate's advances. Or how to counter bad pick-up lines." He grinned. "Living with Blaise for so long gave me enough practice at stuff like that."

"He sounds like a good friend."  
"What?"  
"The way you talk about him makes him sound like a good friend. "  
"Actually we weren't actual friends. But after everything… he's the only one of my dorm mates I could consider a friend now. All of the others… well" He sighed. 'Vince is dead, Greg is still stupid and still believes the bull he's been fed since the day he was born. Nott was … someone in the same dorm and someone who seemingly didn't care about the war although he leaned towards the Dark Side because his dad was a death eater, and well, then there was Pansy… She had been an annoyance when we "dated" and after finding out about each other's alliances… Whatever connection we might have had – it broke, and now we can't stand each other. So, yeah. Blaise is probably the only one I could still talk to.'

"What about the others?"  
"Well… There's not much to say about them." He smiled sadly. "Vince burned to death, Greg's an idiot and Nott… I wouldn't even know what to say about him, he's … a loner. Then there was Blaise who was always jokingly making advances but he never meant them. But other than that I never really talked with him that much. It was only during the last year that we sometimes talked." He shrugged.

"B-burned to death?" She stared at him. Most likely she hadn't heard anything he said afterwards.  
He nodded. "Yes, well… It was his own fault. I mean, it was an accident but he started the fire. Nearly killed me, too." He frowned, he didn't like to think about that occurrence. He didn't like to think about that day, period.  
"He nearly killed you?"  
"Yeah, well, I was there, too."  
"You… you mean… you were there? At that fire?"  
"Yes." He nodded quietly. "I was." And as much as he tried to tell himself that he didn't care about Vince or Greg or what happened back then. It wasn't true. As much as he did not want to have anything to do with either of them – or Pansy for that matter – he was glad that Pans and Greg survived and he grieved for Vince. He just didn't openly show it.

"That must have been terrifying. I can't imagine…"  
"Yes… It was. It was terrifying." 'If Potter hadn't been there…'  
"And you probably don't want to talk about it, sorry."

He smiled sadly. "True. Well, other than the guys, there was Pansy. And the golden trio in a way, too. But they were my rivals in a way… Well, our dorms were rivals so to speak, and Pans, well, she was my 'official' girlfriend. Though I doubt that we were ever dating… We were more like status symbols to each other. And then, later, she joined the same cult and I kind of broke things off with her." He shrugged. "Blaise was pretty much the only one who whole-heartedly agreed that that cult was stupid and we kind of bonded over that at the end…" 'Why am I spilling my guts here? This is ridiculous. Stupid. And quite dangerous.'  
Luckily for him, she didn't ask any questions.

xXxXxXx

Half an hour later, Draco was searching through the newspaper for jobs but there wasn't anything suitable let alone interesting.

Well, there was one interesting job offer – not a job he would have wanted but it was phrased quite well, considering they were looking for a cleaner but still.

Cass advised him to use the Internet for his search. The problem with that was that he did not know what the internet was let alone how to use it, so he ignored that advise.

Maybe he would have indeed found a job using her way; he had no luck with the newspapers.

Sighing he threw them away and decided to ask Cassie if she wanted to go out for dinner, he needed to get out of the house. Sitting around was quite frustrating at the moment.

She was quite surprised when he told her he'd pay and she still got to choose the restaurant – but as he said he didn't know any restaurant around there.  
They ended up going to a Greek restaurant called Jupiter – which Draco found strange as he dimly remembered Jupiter to be a Latin god. Cassiopeia told him that he was right and that the Greek equivalent was Zeus but apparently when the restaurant opened almost fifty years ago there had already been a "Zeus" somewhere around here and some kid in the neighbourhood offered "Jupiter" as a name which was chosen out of a whim. And it stuck.

By chance they ordered the same – Bifteki. After they ordered their topic of conversation changed from restaurants to his views on homosexuality?  
"Don't get me wrong, Draco, but I was wondering… Yes, you said you practically lived with one or more gay guys for years but still… Do you really not mind Glen being… you know."

He gaped at her in surprise.  
"No. Don't get me wrong! I think it's great that you don't and there should be more people out there like you!" 'Tell that to 90percent of my school – they'd disagree with that completely.' He thought. "It's just you're the first guy I've seen to react like that or rather to not react that way, I was just surprised… Still am, actually."  
He nodded. "That's just the way I was raised." Now, he inwardly gaped at what he just said. "okay, that sounded wrong. You know, I've been raised with a lot of weird shit and prejudices and so on but _that_was never an issue."

"What do you mean 'lots of weird stuff and prejudices'?" She asked curious.  
"Well…" sighing he tried to find a safe way to answer that question. "My father was… a racist of sorts. I mean he… he discriminated against certain people and he raised me to believe I was better than others… Took me quite some time to realise he was wrong. And even more to accept that and get rid of my inflated ego. And then, when my father joined that cult…" He broke off unsure on how to continue but Cassie nodded in understanding.

"You don't want to talk about that." She said softly. "Let me say just one thing. There's no reason for you to be ashamed because you thought you were something better. You learned. That's all that matters."  
He smiled sadly. "Thanks. It took me long enough though. And there's one girl I really want to apologize to… but I don't know how to."

"Call her?" Cassie offered.  
"What?"  
"Call her and apologize?"  
"That's not really something I can apologize for on the phone." He frowned. At least he didn't think it was… He certainly didn't want to do it per mail, if anything, if he really did it he would only do it in person. He felt that it was an empty gesture otherwise.

"Well then. Call her and ask her to meet you."  
"She'd never do that. Besides her … husband" was it just him, or did he sound really sarcastic just there? "would never let her talk to me… He… hates my guts. Well, he's a dumb idiot so I don't really care, but she will … I never understood what she liked about him…" The last part was mumbled.  
"Are you jealous?" She raised a brow.

"What?" He stared at her. "no." he managed to get out before he started laughing. "sorry… but the mere thought…" he tried to calm down. "No. just no." He shook his head. "I just don't like him. He's … dumb. Has no manners. Only cares about food. Well and her. And Potter and his…." 'war. But I can't say that… That would open the door to too amny questions.' He shrugged. "I never understood what Viktor liked about her, either, but I would have understood if she stayed with him… but that Weasel? Sorry, no, I don't see any reason for her to do that." He shrugged. "And she was quite intelligent normally."

She seemed amused and most likely also bemused by his speech. "You respect both of them, don't you?" She asked softly.  
Surprised he said nothing for a moment then slowly nodded. "Yes… actually. I never noticed but I guess I do. I think I always respected her even though I was never supposed to, but…"

They were interrupted by the arrival of their food and they ate in a thoughtful silence. Both of them were thinking about the conversation they just had.

They decided to go for a walk afterwards but the earlier topic of conversation did not return. They talked about flowers (because of a park they passed) when the topic changed to the differences between Simbelmyne and daisies and then on to a comparison between Arda and Earth. Draco was surprised to realise that both the muggle and the wizarding version of those books where really almost exactly the same – except for Gandalf's staff and a few other minor details. But all in all, it was identical. It somehow reassured him in his decision to live in the muggle world – while some things might be different, overall, it was still the same world.

Once they reached home, though, their conversation turned serious once again.  
"I know you might not want to talk about that but… You said it was the way you were raised that you do not discriminate against gays but then you said you or rather your father discriminated against certain people… What did you mean by that?"  
"You're right, I don't really want to talk about that either but… I'll try to explain that a bit." He paused to gather his thoughts. "My father – and certain other people… No. Merl…" he stopped and tried again. "God, I don't where to start… In a way… Well, there's…" He sighed. "give me a minute to figure out how to start…"  
She nodded and went to the kitchen to fetch them something to drink.

In the end he decided, since he already termed the Death Eaters as a cult, to go with something similar.  
"Alright. I guess I should start with religion then. Maybe religion is the wrong word, though. Let's call it a set of beliefs rather. I grew up belonging to a certain community with a certain set of beliefs. It's not a world religion like Christianity, Buddhism and the like. There are believers all over the world, yes, but it's like a cult in the one aspect that it's not openly talked about normally. We don't proselytise, someone either believes or he doesn't… You have to be born into it, I guess. It's an ancient … set of beliefs that was often persecuted in the past which is why it is still kept quite secret."  
"So it's a cult?" She sounded a bit uncomfortable and Draco shook his head.  
"No. At least I don't think it is. It's quite a bit older than Christianity. Some say it's as old as humankind but I don't know about that. It is certainly ancient though. As it is, there is no liturgy, I think it was called?" She nodded.

"It's more like… I was raised with a certain set of beliefs, a certain set of values… Anyway, like in any bigger 'religion' there are quite a few different … groupings? Does that make sense?" She nodded again. "And well, there was one" he gulped. "one guy who… who thought that his exact set of beliefs was better than everybody else's." He stared at the floor.  
"And that is the cult your father joined?"  
"Yes. Well… yes, it was but… not the way you mean it." He hesitated.  
"Not the way I meant it? What do you mean?"  
"Well… I..." He stared at his feet, they seemed quite interesting suddenly. "My parents joined him when they were still in school. He started out pretty … normal." He bit his lip. "Or so I heard. I wouldn't know, I wasn't born yet – not by a long shot."  
"But didn't you say, your parents stopped being, well, your parents when they joined?"  
Draco flinched violently; he had not heard Glen come in. "Sorry, I did not mean to startle you or to listen in on your conversation… I just wanted to get a book. I'll leave."  
"It's okay. You can stay, I certainly do not want to have to tell this story twice. Or leave. I doesn't matter."  
"I'll stay then."

"Anyway. I was coming to that part. He gained power over the years and he formed his own little cult within that set of beliefs. But he chose which beliefs, which values he wanted to keep, which he wanted to discard. Needless to say, he got rid of most values or morals or whatever you want to call it. By the time he showed his true face to the world, he was basically untouchable because of his followers. Anyway. There was a prophesy, I have no clue if that thing was genuine or not, or if there's even such a thing as a genuine prophesy – though Lynn would surely say that there was – " He did earn a faint laugh with his joke but he could tell that his two listeners felt distinctly uncomfortable with his story. "that a child would be born with the power to destroy him. Well, since by then he practically believed himself some sort of god he worried about that prophesy and decided to kill that child. He failed. He did kill its parents though and then had to flee. He was presumed dead for quite some time. My parents thought him dead, too. I don't want to bore you with details, so let me make it short. My father did not show it openly anymore but he still held on to some of _his_ more drastic beliefs – not his most drastic ones maybe but he raised me with those in mind. He raised me to believe that I was better than a certain group of people – needless to say that I'm not. I am neither better nor less than them. Different, maybe, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. If we were all the same the world would be boring after all."

They nodded and tried to digest all that they learned about him in such a short time. It was quiet for a few minutes before Cassie tentatively spoke.  
"That still does not explain… It explains the discrimination of certain people and the weird stuff… but it does not explain my original question or what you meant with your parents stopping being your parents."

He nodded. "Well, for all that was wrong with their views or whatever… homosexuality was never an issue. There's nothing in our set of believes that discriminates against them." 'Hell, how could there be. Just look at Hagrid… or that werewo… Professor Lupin who had a child with a human… If we don't discriminate against species why should we discriminate against gender? The only reason we ever really discriminated against muggles, is because they in turn discriminated against us.' Inwardly he shrugged. 'Okay, some of us do discriminate against species, take that toad for an example, but even V…. _he_ did not discriminate against species – I remember Fenrir all too well.'

"If you're an heir of an old family or something then maybe you'll be expected to adopt an heir or find a woman willing to bear you one in exchange for some compensation, but other than that, no one cares. That's your private life and it's nobody's business what you do in your free time."

He took a gulp of water. "Continuing my story, when I was 14? Or 15? Somewhere around my fifteenth birthday, he returned. And my parents re-joined his cult." He sneaked a look at them only to snarl at them. "Don't look at me like that! I don't want your pity – I don't need it." His voice was cold, it made them flinch. They both mumbled an apology and blanked their faces.

"They wanted me to join him, too, and admittedly, in the beginning, I was inclined to do that – before I met him, mind you."  
"And after you met him?" Cassie asked in a low tone.  
"After I met him? There was no way in hell I would join that mad man. He may have been brilliant in his youth – even my headmaster who was his teacher and later opposed his views admitted that – but he definitely lost his marbles somewhere along the way."

"Power corrupts?" Glen offered.  
"Something like that. By the time he came back he was raving mad. A sadistic bastard."  
"Sa… Sadistic?" One of them asked in a weak voice. Draco was too deep in thought to be able to tell which one. He did not answer that particular question but brushed over it.

"As soon as I told them I wouldn't join I was dead to them. Or, at least, I was no longer their son." He said emotionlessly. "Anyway, that doesn't matter anymore. That guy was killed when he tried to rid the world of people he didn't deem good enough, My father's in prison and my mother's in a mental facility." He stated matter-of-factly then downed his glass and up and left for a walk. He wanted to be alone for a while. He did not even look at them when he left. He couldn't bear it.

* * *

**AN2:** I'm sorry about the sort-of cliffie. Not. But really, I had to end this chapter somewhere. ^^  
TBC next week. Thanks for reading.


	16. Ch15: Arrests&other Misunderstandings

**AN:** I'm really sorry about the delay but my computer froze yesterday and after waiting it out - I had an unsaved document open at the time it froze (Draco Black actually and i would have lost a good chunk of yesterday's, well, today's chapter so i decided to try to wait it out. When it finally worked again after a few minutes a figured it would be better to jsut save DB, disconnect from the internet and running a security scan - which came back clean. Hopefully it was only my CPU which overloaded if not... Anyway, seeing as I saved the document on more than just one removeable media and my computer is not the only one in this household, I should still be able to continue to update even if my computer dies.

**Warnings**: well... the usual and mentions of drug abuse later on in the chapter. (Do I really have to put that in the warnings? It's not as if any of the roomies do drugs... but whatever)

**Disclaimer: **Seeing as I'm getting slightly annoyed about posting these all the time, I'll say it one last time: I do not own anything from the Harry Potter Universe. It belongs to J. and probably Bloomsbury and Warner Bros. Hey, I'm just a fan passing time writing about fandoms I take interests in. Or maybe a fan writing a plot bunny that bit me you-know-where. I'm not sure who else besides J.K. owns HP, the only thing I do know is that I'm not one of those people. I. do. not. own. Harry Potter. That will still hold true through any new chapters I'll post and this Disclaimer will still be true for those while I will cease to post it in every bloody chapter. I will post Disclaimers though about other shows or books I will mention or adapt to fit my story, like I did with Lord of the Rings for example. I don't own those either but I will list them if new one's come up - and I'm pretty sure some will during the story.  
Whoa, long disclaimer ö.O Sorry about that. Oh and, since I've forgotten to mention that earlier - I'm not making any profit with this.

Anyway... On with the story.

* * *

He was gone for hours. He couldn't bring himself to go back. He couldn't even bring himself to understand why the hell he suddenly went and told two perfect strangers his whole life story. Okay, they weren't complete strangers and it was not really the whole story but still.  
He had never been one to talk about what he felt or his past… his home life… He never really talked about himself, period.

He walked around aimlessly without even registering or paying attention where he went. He didn't know if he'd walked straight on or gone in circles. He had no idea how much time had passed. He had no watch and no wand to cast a tempus. He dimly remembered passing empty parks, dark alleyways and dead streets. He wasn't even sure about those though. He really hadn't being paying attention. At the same time he had no idea what he'd thought about during his walk.

He was snapped out of it by some guy that begged him for money. He told the guy he had none and carried on. Wondering where he was, he decided to turn around.

A few minutes later he passed through a relatively large park. He saw a few people occupying some benches and decided to approach them – against his better judgement, the sight of them gave him a bad feeling – and ask them for directions towards the nearest tube station.  
As soon as he reached them, the one in the middle asked him if he wanted some. Draco had no clue what "some" insinuated. Judging from the guy's voice he did not mean roughening someone up. Draco only shrugged in response and asked after the nearest tube station.  
A short discussion between the four followed. The only thing that Draco understood out of their mumbling was "maybe code for" "yeah, but what…" and "only normal stuff.". He was confused and repeated the question only to be faced with a demand of fifty pounds for the information.

Ok, so maybe they needed money. And he knew that information had to be paid for at times although he had not expected it for something as trivial – and certainly not that expensive.  
"No way! That's way too much." He tried to haggle with them but he obviously had not inherited his father's talent for it – They didn't budge one bit. They did grow more and more nervous as time drew on though.

It was only after he cried out that he only wanted directions, something that had been obvious from the start, and no directions were worth that much money that they started to lower their price and he managed to only have to pay fifteen. The money quickly changed hands and Draco turned around to follow his directions when suddenly he heard some weird clicking noise that made the people behind him freeze and they were being spotlighted.

"Don't move! Hands on your head!" Someone yelled at them.  
Draco blinked in surprise – what was going on? He turned around and blinked at the light.  
"I said, DON'T MOVE! And hands on your heads!"

Still confused by why he should abide those orders Draco stood still but did not raise his hands.  
"Shit" cursed one of the guys behind him. "Cops." "What the hell is the friggin' police doing here?" "Maybe he was undercover?" "But he didn't want any…."  
Draco did not understand what they were talking about. Well, he did understand one word though. Police. He groaned. As far as he knew they were the muggle Aurors. He slowly raised his hands to his head – he had no idea what use it would be but he really didn't want to have to deal with Aurors, err, police. He had enough of Aurors to last him a lifetime over his trial and the trials over several of his acquaintances.

All five of them were taken into custody. Luckily Draco was transported separately from the others.

Once in the police station he was searched. Much to the surprise of all policemen involved they could not find what they were looking for on him. Why should he have drugs anyway? He was neither a Healer nor a Potions Master – but even these didn't normally carry meds with them apart from some everyday medicine that everybody owned normally. Muggle police was strange.

A few questions and a hushed but not hushed enough conversation between the Cops, as one of the 'Dealers' had called them, later, Draco figured that these drugs were treated pretty much like illegal dark objects. Just great. He groaned inwardly. Why did he have to be at the wrong place at the wrong time yet again. Sighing he slumped in his chair – This was going to be a long night.

A good twelve hours and many questions later, he was free to go. They deduced that he had really been at the wrong place the wrong time and that it had all been one huge misunderstanding. The fact that they found nothing on him except for his wallet and his mobile phone thingy helped his case a lot.

The four so-called Dealers were apprehended with enough "stuff" to make a bonfire apparently. More than those four would be able to consume in a week – at least according to the officers in the waiting area. Draco had no idea how much "stuff" such a measurement implied. Apparently catching those four was a huge success even without catching them red-handed. Again Draco had no idea why, but he figured, if the Aurors, err, the Police was happy it was better that way for him.

Technically he was free to go but since he was about to drop dead – figuratively speaking from exhaustion, not literally – he was advised to either call a cab or someone to come get him. He was about to ask if they could call him a cab when his phone rang.

It took him a bit to remember how to answer it and to apply that knowledge.  
"Err, yes?"  
"Oh, thank God, Dray! You're ok! We were worried!" He blinked in surprise that sounded like..  
"Cassie?"  
"Yes. It's me. Gods. I'm so glad you're okay – you are okay right?"  
"Y-yeah…"  
"Thank God. I'm so sorry if we offended you last night or anything. I wanted to apologize for pressing on but you never came home. And when I came home from work and you still weren't at home, I decided to call you. Please come home?" 'Are you my girlfriend?' Draco asked himself – he was slightly confused by her antics. "I hope we didn't drive you away or anything…" She sounded almost desperate.  
"What? No. Why would you think I wouldn't…?" He was confused.  
"You've been gone for over 16 hours, mate, of course we'd worry!"  
"Really? I'd been walking around for over four hours. Wow." He hadn't expected to have been gone that long.  
"What do you mean? You've been gone sixteen hours not…. Where are you?"  
"Police station… Don't ask. I'll explain when I get home… If I get home… If I get someone here to call me a cab, I got no number…" 'And I haven't gotten my wand and can't call the knight bus either – not that I'd want to go on that infernal ride.'  
"Glen could pick you up. He does have a car even if he hardly uses it. Or… Which police station?"

He didn't know and asked one of the constables and then relayed the answer. He dimly heard a discussion on the other end of the phone then Cassie told him that Glen would be there in half an hour and that he should wait.  
And then she apologized profusely about making him talk about something he obviously hadn't wanted to talk about – again. It took him the better part of 10 minutes until he managed to shut her up and end the conversation.

One of the nicer officers gave him a glass of water for his wait.

As soon as Glen arrived, Draco was pulled into a crushing hug but seconds later Glen let go and apologized for acting overly familiar. An apology that would have led straight to apologies about last night if Draco hadn't interrupted him that he wanted to get out of there.

As soon as they were seated, Glen broke his silence.  
"What the hell were you doing at the police station?"  
"Well, I got… arrested."  
"What?"  
"For buying… drugs? Not that I did they just thought I did. I actually paid a lot of money for directions to the next tube station that I never got to use because we were arrested 'red-handed-ly' so to speak."  
"You what?" Glen asked weakly.  
Draco sighed. Was he talking in riddles or something?

"I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. I was walking around, got lost and decided to turn back when I saw a couple of guys in a park. Approached them, asked them for directions, haggled cause they didn't want to give them for free, paid them, wanted to use them and got arrested together with them for conducting a drug deal."  
"Right…. What the bloody hell?"  
Draco moaned in exasperation and started again. "I got arrested..."  
"No, well, yes, I got it." Glen interrupted him. "Just… what the heck?!"  
He shrugged.

Silence reigned for the next ten minutes until Draco broke it this time around.  
"Say, what's the deal about drugs?"  
"Are you kidding me?" Shocked was the only way to describe his voice as. A groan. "Sometimes I forget that you grew up under a rock. Seriously it's quite shocking. No offense but some of the things you seem to not know about makes me wonder just where the hell you grew up – or rather when. You're not some kind of vampire, are you?"

"Excuse me?!" He couldn't believe it. The things that boy was insinuating…  
"You know, you're indignant about the weirdest of things. But Relax, I was joking. It just seems like you're behind the times somehow… I don't know. Anyway. Drugs are illegal substances. Well, apart from alcohol and prescribed meds but, you know."  
A sigh. "No. I don't know, that's why I'm asking."  
"Seriously? You don't know about drugs? Are you serious?"  
"No, that's actually my cousin…" Shaking his head at Glen's questioning look he added: "Nevermind."  
"Okay?" Shrugging it off, Glen wondered where he should start. At least, Draco guessed he did from the look on his face.

"Okay, well' drugs are illegal substances – at least the ones the Police were arresting you for – that have highly intoxicating effects. They're also quite damaging in the long run."  
Confusion was written all over Draco's face. "Care to elaborate?"  
"Oh dear. Well, I can try, but… right. Drugs. They are illegal because they are intoxicating, quite dangerous and highly addictive."  
"Addictive?" So basically drugs were like certain potions, namely Dreamless Sleep? He had heard that said potion could be addictive if one ingested it over a longer period of time. But such an addiction 'only' meant that one would grow immune to its effectbut would not be able to sleep without it despite its ineffectiveness. Quite an inconvenience, maybe, but hardly as damaging as Glen implied these drugs to be.

"Yes. Addictive. But it doesn't stop there. They are also damaging on a physical level as well as an emotional – or psychological. And in the long run they could certainly kill you." Well, sleep deprivation could do that to you.

Although, somehow, Draco didn't think that that's what Glen meant. In a way his description reminded him of the Cruciatus Curse. That curse had quite some repercussions if applied for any prolonged amount of time – meaning more than a few minutes tops. Living with Bellatrix Lestrange for some time had ensured that he knew the fate of Auror Longbottom and his wife. Unconsciously he shuddered. That was definitely not a nice thought.

"And that's why they're illegal. Because there has been and still is way too much abuse of drugs in the world." This sounded more and more like the muggle equivalent to casting an Unforgivable Curse to Draco. Or like some cursed dark object. He frowned. Did it never end? It was bad enough that his father had been quite involved in such things but did it really have to haunt him in his 'muggle life'?

"And by the way, we're both really sorry about yesterday. It was obvious you didn't want to talk about it but I'm thankful that you did. It explained quite a bit. And if there ever is anything you don't know, feel free to ask Cassie or me. And I know you don't want any pity – you made that pretty clear yesterday, but let me just say that I'm sorry for what you had to go through and that – if you ever want to talk about it – we'll both be there."  
Draco only nodded in response.

The last few minutes of the drive passed in silence but as soon as Draco exited the car he was attacked by a flying girl so to speak. Cassie flung herself at him and hugged him tight babbling about being sorry for pushing him and glad he was alright.

He somehow managed to extract himself from her hug only to be ushered inside with her mothering him. Behaviour that he might have expected from Lynn – the dramatics at least – and maybe from Glen, well not really if he was honest, but certainly not from Cassie. She was too quiet and composed normally. Resigned to his fate he let her drag him to the living room and get him something to eat and to drink while Glen watched on with a slightly amused glint in his eyes. But mostly the guy seemed as bemused as Draco felt.

When it was obvious that Draco could barely keep his eyes open anymore, Glen jumped in and was – much to his apparent surprise – able to get her to lay off and let him go to his room to get some sleep. Draco didn't even manage to get changed and for the first time in his life he fell asleep in the clothes he'd been wearing all day.

* * *

**AN2:** Thanks for reading.  
In light of this chapter I want to say that I have no experience with drugs and I have never been arrested, so if the scenario is different from reality then I'm sorry but well, this is fiction. And since I'm not from the UK I'm also not too well versed in the laws of said country. The only things I would have had to go on were tv shows and well... I really don't think you can use them es a reference - at least not the german ones, they're horrible in my opinion.


	17. Ch16: Gardening and Movies

**AN:** Back with another chapter. I'm not sure what to call it - I had that problem often lately, it seems. Anyways, I hope you like it.

* * *

After his adventures the previous day Draco decided to spend the day doing nothing and staying at home.  
One should note that he made said decision and around 2 a.m. when he first woke up. Even though he went to the living room and got himself a book to read, an interesting book at that, by the time it was four thirty he was itching to do something, anything. He managed to hold out until shortly after 5 o'clock then he got into the shower and decided to tackle the mess that called themselves their garden.

But then he realised that he should probably ask the others about that, so it would have to wait. Desperate to do anything he took over the kitchen and made scones, croissants and bread rolls.  
He knew that he went over the top with it but he had to do something with himself. After arranging them on the kitchen table he went to take stock of their garden at the very least.

An exited scream told him that Lynn was awake and that she had found his morning's work – and it woke the other occupants of their house. Moments later they filed into the kitchen, asking Lynn groggily what the fuss was about.  
Draco followed them into the kitchen, rolling his eyes at Lynn's scream.

With a look that could only be described as desperate begging, Lynn asked him if she could eat some. He was taken aback.  
"Well, that's what their standing around for. Surely you don't expect me to eat them all on my own? That would be a bit too much to eat even for a guy like Greg… or Vince…" At their questioning looks he shrugged. "Never mind. Old classmates." He added as an explanation while Lynn started to devour the pastries. Glen wasn't that far behind and while Cassie turned the coffee machine on before she took a scone, she did not wait until her coffee was made.  
"Thanks, Draco." She yawned. "But seriously, Lynn. No need to scream like that and wake us all up. Today's my day off, I could have slept in if not for your incessant screaming."  
Draco sniggered. 'Incessant screaming… That sounds like something Uncle Sev would have said.' He frowned and then realised that the other three were eyeing him confusedly.

"You know, your mood swings can be quite confusing." Cassie sounded worried.  
"Sorry. You just said something my uncle would have said…"  
"Oh. Sorry."  
"Nah. You couldn't have known." He shrugged it off. "Anyway. I wanted to ask you guys something."  
"Huh?" Glen half yawned half asked.  
"What did you want to know?" Lynn elaborated his 'question'.  
"About our so-called garden…."  
Amused laughter, well, as much laughter as they were capable of in their half asleep like state, greeted his description.  
"Frankly, it's a nightmare. I was wondering if I could, I don't know, tend to it or something. Clean it up a bit. To be honest, I want to redo it completely and grow some plants that are usable or something. But getting rid of the weeds and clearing a path would be a start."  
"Feel free." A grin split Lynn's face. "None of us has a green thump. So we just let it be… I don't think any one of us would mind if you make it into your playground or something."  
"Nope. Definitely not. Go ahead, knock yourself out." Smiling both Cassie and Glen gave him their oks. "And even if you fail, it can hardly turn out worse than it is now."  
Oh, no, definitely not. Not when he was on the case. His pride wouldn't allow it.

So he spent the majority of his morning weeding, ok, destroying the garden. He broke up the soil and disposed almost all the plants that were growing wildly. All over the place. Randomly. Without any kind of order whatsoever. That garden really was a disaster. Surprisingly enough, he had fun.

He had always disliked Herbology as a class, thought the subject was beneath him, but he actually enjoyed the manual labour – as long as he was free to do as he wished and did not have to for example repot a mandrake root.

His interest in Herbology, although small, was something he owed to Severus Snape. The man had taught him that if he wanted to brew a good potion he needed good ingredients meaning mostly fresh ingredients. And the only way to ensure their quality was growing them himself. The only reason that Snape hadn't grown them himself at Hogwarts was the fact that he did not have the time with his classes, the grading and the like – and the fact that the quality of Professor Sprouts plants and therefore the quality of the ingredients won from them was beyond any doubt.

After stowing the trash in a large container which Glen agreed to dispose of, he asked the others where he could buy seeds and the like.

He then spent the whole afternoon planting and grooming their garden. He planted mainly things he could use for his cooking and the few muggle plants which they covered in Herbology – some weeds with medical uses, some they had dealt with in their first classes so as to cover the basics with non-dangerous plants

In the evening he was ushered inside by Lynn who apparently wanted to tell him something, she was babbling non-stop. The only problem was that she was talking way too fast – Draco couldn't catch any of it. And there was no interrupting her, she just babbled on ignoring his plea for her to slow down. After almost half an hour of just nodding along and following his own thoughts – maybe ten minutes in the conversation he had figured out that she was yet again talking about some TV show (which, he didn't know) – when he was rescued by Glen who wanted to ask Lynn something about his car.

Sighing in relief as soon as she was gone, he went into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of orange juice. Merlin, he missed pumpkin juice.

He heard steps entering the kitchen.  
"Uh. Hi, Draco. I was beginning to wonder if you got kidnapped." He shuddered although he knew that Cassie meant it as a joke – he knew he had enough enemies out there. "You were out there for a long time. Did you have fun?"  
He rolled his eyes. "Obviously.", he dead panned and got a grin in return.  
"So. You never got to tell me why you were at the police yesterday. I considered asking Glen but I figured… I'd want to hear it from you, and if you don't want to tell me – you can refuse." She shrugged.  
Smiling softly, he shook his head. "Nah. It was just a misunderstanding. I got arrested for buying drugs. NO! I didn't buy any!" He hurried to say at seeing the angry-disappointed look on her face. "I just said that it was a misunderstanding, didn't I?" That got her to nod sheepishly.  
"So what happened?"  
"I came across some... Dealers. I didn't know that they were and approached them for directions. They demanded money in return. And well, the police had apparently been watching them for hours hoping to catch them in the act… So when we exchanged money, they thought I was buying drugs." If she caught the pause before dealers she didn't let it show.  
"Ouch."  
He had to laugh at that. "Yeah. Well, whatever. It's not like I missed anything important yesterday so it's okay." He could practically hear Lucius screaming at him that it was not okay. That he was a noble pure-blood and that no filthy muggle had the right to even suspect him of doing something as degrading as doing drugs. A Malfoy, having a "muggle weakness"? Pshaw!

Taking a deep breath, Draco tried to ignore Lucius or rather, the part of him that was unable to get rid of all of Lucius' indoctrinations yet. He hated that part of himself.

"You're doing it again." Cassie commented.  
"Huh?"  
"Your mood swings."  
"Right." Suddenly feeling tired he rubbed his eyes. "Sorry. I just… I could almost hear what my… Lu… my dad would have to say to yesterday's events…" He didn't know what to call Lucius. He could barely bring himself to call him his dad, hell, he didn't even consider the guy his father – not anymore – but Cassie would not have known who Lucius was.  
"Oh. Nothing good, I presume?"  
He stifled a laugh. "Nothing good? Are you kidding? He would have called them presumptuous and that they had no right to arrest me and what not." He shook his head. "I'm just glad Lucius is in prison."  
"That must be hard."  
"What must be hard?"  
"Having a father in prison."  
"Oh, he's not my father." He shrugged. "Not anymore. He's dead to me."  
It was obvious that Cassie didn't know what to say to that.  
"For all intends and purposes, I'm an orphan now. Funny how these things work out." He mumbled.  
"Huh? What do you mean?"  
"Oh. Nothing." 'When we came to Hogwarts, Potter was the orphan, all alone and everything. Now he's the one with family. Quite a big family actually. And I'm the one who's alone now.' He rolled his eyes at himself. Self pity did not suit him.  
"Merlin, I miss school. Everything seemed so easy back then."  
"Seemed easy?" He nearly jumped in surprise. He had forgotten about Cassie.  
"Yes. Well, at least it did before the summer between fourth and fifth year." Shrugging he smiled sadly. "Then things got really complicated, I guess."  
Cassie hung her head. "Sorry, I didn't… I didn't mean to remind you of it. I… sorry."  
"It's alright." He shook his head.

He went to his room to continue reading his book but not even five minutes later he was interrupted by an exhausted Glen who was apparently hiding from an ecstatic Lynn. At least that's what Glen said. After Lynn followed him to his own room he was now seeking refuge in Draco's. Draco only sighed and allowed him asylum. After all, the guy had saved him earlier.

"What are you reading?"  
"Oscar Wilde."  
"Huh?"  
"The Picture of Dorian Gray?"  
"Oh. Right. I know that one… I think."  
"You think?" Amused by his words Draco shook his head, Glen only shrugged.  
"Well… I haven't read it – but I do now the story…"  
"I see."

They sat in companiable silence for a while with Draco reading his book and Glen watching Myrtle. Or maybe he was just lost in thought. Draco didn't know and didn't really care either. He could hear Lynn running around in the hall – and finding her next victim, probably Cassie or maybe she had called someone?, whichever it was, she did start up her rapid babbling excitedly again. They both groaned and then grinned at each other in relief. As much as they all liked Lynn her bouts of over-excitement were trying.

"Somehow I think we better vacate the house tonight. I love the woman to bits, but if I have to suffer another minute of her happy tirade about I don't even know what she was talking about earlier!, I'm going to flip!"  
Draco rolled his eyes at Glen's outburst.  
"Yes, yes. Whatever you say. So, what are you suggesting we do?"  
"We… erm… I don't know, actually. But we could… CINEMA! We could go to the movies."  
Draco just sent him a questioning look.  
"Oh. Right. That's like watching a movie on TV – only way better! You'll just have to see for yourself, sweetie!" He shut up abruptly. "Sorry, that was… habit." He sounded apologetic. "I'm Scottish." He added as a way of explanation. "Sorry. I forgot you're not used to … familiarity. Lynn and Cassie don't even take notice anymore if I call them something like that. Neither did Chris or Anastasia." He sounded really remorseful and looked like a mixture of a kicked puppy and a scared rabbit.  
Draco sighed. "Whatever. Just don't do it again."  
"You got it, Black! So, movies?"  
Exasperated, he nodded his consent. It didn't look as if he could have some peace and quiet no matter what he decided to do with himself that night.  
"Alright, Cinema it is!"

The cinema was overwhelming. Draco was glad he had enough training in hiding his emotions otherwise he thought he might have broken down.  
He was not used to any of this, he had only seen not even a handful of movies on a TV and the cinema was… Big. It was loud, too. And the fact that he had no way of knowing what the film was about didn't exactly help matters. It was all explosions and fights and… some of the scenes actually reminded him of the war and it made him feel sick.  
By the time the movie was over he had retreated into himself. Outwardly he seemed emotionless and wore a blank mask on his face.

When Glen saw his face, asked if something was wrong without receiving an answer, he decided that Draco's first cinematic experience should not be a bad one and dragged him along to watch another movie – a comedy this time.

Much to Glen's obvious surprise, Draco laughed at the oddest of times while he missed some of the obvious jokes that made the whole hall – except for Draco – laugh. Draco seemed to laugh every time one of the female characters opened the mouth.

Afterwards they went to a bar for a beer – which tasted decidedly different from butterbeer to Draco's chagrin – and Glen broached the subject.  
"You okay again?" He got only a nod in response. "What was so funny earlier? That girl didn't say anything funny during the whole movie."  
He blinked in surprise when Draco actually giggled. – giggled!? Draco was surprised at himself as well, he didn't do giggling.  
"No. She didn't. But," He had a hard time suppressing his laughter. "It was like watching the Weaslette open her mouth and talking with the voice of the toad." He gave an involuntary shudder. "A Professor." He added at Glen's incredulous look.

"You call a Professor a Weaslette?"  
"No. Weaslette was a girl that was a year beneath mine. The sister of a classmate. The toad was a Professor – and believe me, the woman looked like one."  
"Riiight… Did you call her that to her face?"  
"Ginevra? Yes. The professor – No, I had no death wish at the time."  
Glen had to laugh even though he got the feeling that Draco was far from joking.

They sipped at their beers in silence when they heard someone gasp next to them and Draco found himself forcibly turned around as someone grabbed his collar. He was staring at the face of Dean Thomas.

* * *

**AN2:** Weeell, what do you know, a little cliffie popped up. ^^

TBC next Week, I guess.

On a side note: Before anyone asks, I didn't have any specific movies in mind when I wrote this...


	18. Ch17: Dealing with one's Past

**AN:**Another long chapter... I was thinking about cutting it in half - it is twice the length of my normal chapters after all - but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I would have updated both parts today anyway.

**Warnings:** the usual, some swearwords (more than normally) and flashbacks, which are kind of dark, mentions of violence and torture... oh, and this is unbetaed. And not really proofread either. I hope it's bearable though. If there are too many mistakes, write me and I'll correct them.

* * *

"You!"  
Draco refrained from gulping and tried to look nonchalant. "Yes. Me."  
"What the hell are you doing HERE?" He sounded hostile. Crap. Draco did not fancy having a confrontation in front of his roommate – he did not want to have to explain things afterwards.  
"Black? Who's that?" Glen asked and Draco groaned inwardly. This did not bode well.  
"BLACK?! Who're you calling…Well, well, well. It certainly fits." Thomas snorted.  
"He's an old classmate." Draco explained. "Glen, this is Dean Thomas. Thomas, that's my roommate Glen Scott." He braced himself for an explosion but he did not expect Dean to dissolve into a fit of laughter. "Your roommate? Seriously? You're bunking with a… with a mudblood?"  
"DON'T CALL HIM THAT!"  
That snarl sobered Dean up and quickly. "Seriously? The great Draco Ma… Black defending a ... muggle. Who'd have thought." He shook his head. "No offense Scott. I have nothing against your kind, I grew up as one as well, but the thought of the Slytherin Prince her bunking with a… regular guy…." He shook his head and Draco groaned inwardly. How was he going to explain to Glen that Thomas was _not_ talking about gays?

"Anyway, fancy meeting you here, Black. In a muggle pub. I don't believe it." The latter half was muttered. "No one's gonna believe me if I told them. Really. Did it hurt when you fell off your little pedestal?"  
Draco grit his teeth and remained quiet but next to him Glen appeared to be seething.  
"Excuse me? What gives you the right to talk to him like that?!"  
"Glen, let it go. He's got every right to talk like that."  
Draco's admission deflated not only Glen's but also Dean Thomas' anger.  
"You changed." It wasn't a question but Draco answered anyway.  
"Yes. How could I not? "  
With a thoughtful nod Dean slid into the seat next to them. "Maybe. I guess you're right. We all changed." He stated quietly then grinned. "I just hope I never have to see your cellar again." Even meant as a joke, the reminder made Draco flinch.  
"Sorry. I guess that was out of line." He shrugged. "Anyway. How the heck did you end up bunking with a mug… a norm… an outsider?" Dean seemed unsure what to call Glen without saying too much.  
"Three."  
"Huh?"  
"I'm bunking with three… 'outsiders' as you called them."  
"Who the bloody hell are you and what have you done with Draco Ma… err, Black."  
"Ma…? That's the second time you started and stopped calling him …. Something."  
Both wizards looked at Glen and then exchanged an uncomfortable glance.  
"Nevermind. Forget I asked." Glen backpedalled quickly.

"Oh, by the way. Zabini is worried about you."  
"What?"  
"Zabini is worried about you." Dean repeated.  
"Really?" Draco was doubtful. "Anyway, how would you know?"  
"He wrote me. From what I could gather he wrote all of our yearmates to inquire if anyone knew where you were. Harry is worried as well."  
"Potter is worried about me? Have you gone mental?"  
"Nope. But hey, you know Harry. He's always…" Dean trailed off and Draco added:  
"He's always had a hero complex, didn't he?"  
"Something like that… But can you blame him? Considering who he is…"  
"No. probably not."  
"Argh! I can't believe I'm actually agreeing with you, you, you … FERRET!"  
Draco groaned. "You people are never going to let me live that down, are you?"  
"No." Dean actually sounded smug despite his repressed laughter.

"Oh, hell. I called you a ferret and I didn't even mean it as an insult. What is wrong with me?"  
"How the bloody –"  
"Did you curse me?"  
"WHAT? Thomas, are you nuts? No, don't answer that, you're a Gryffindork, of course you're nuts!"  
"What the hell is wrong with Gryffindor, you Slytherin Ponce!"  
"Did you just insult the noble house of Salazar Slytherin, you stupid twat?"  
Dean suddenly dropped his head on the bar and groaned. "Why are we arguing like old friends? I can't stand you!"  
"Likewise."  
"Merlin, this is ridiculous."

Glen just watched their conversation with a bemused look on his face.

"Please don't tell Blaise about meeting me here."  
Dean Thomas rolled his eyes and Glen blurted out: "the gay guy?"  
Nodding, Draco grinned. "Speaking of gays, how's the boyfriend?"  
"What boyfriend?" Dean asked in confusion.  
"Finnigan."  
"Why the bloody heck does everyone assume we were a couple. I'm not even bi. 'Sides, I dated Ginny."  
Draco coughed the word "beard."  
"Honestly! What in the world is wrong with you people? Ron always teased us about that, too."  
"You mean, you're telling me that I accidentally agreed with the Weasel? Eww! … Speaking of Weasels, is it true that the Weaslette was shagging Pansy sometime during our six year? You should know, you dated the girl."  
"You know… I as…ked her … abou..t that once…" Gasping for breath, the other wizard tried to talk through his sudden laughing fit. "She, she said… she.. lo-ost a bet with… with the twins. So she had to… start the rumour." Dean was almost crying of laughter.  
Sniggering Draco shook his head. "Sad thing is, I can easily picture that."  
"Right!? That's exactly what I – Bloody Hell!"  
"You're agreeing with me again."  
"Yeah, I'm beginning to scare myself…. Wait a minute! You dated Parkinson, how the heck do you not know if it was a rumour? … Actually, forget it. Never mind. Slytherins." Dean Thomas rolled his eyes. And Draco actually managed to refrain from complaining about labelling his not-knowing as a Slytherin-trait.

"What's Slytherin?" Glen asked.  
Inwardly cursing both wizards wondered how much they could say without saying too much. "Slytherin is the name of the dorm I was in."  
"Were you in the same Dorm?"  
"No! Merlin, no! I was in the rivalling dorm."  
"You mean… what did you say earlier, Draco? Griff-something?"  
"Gryffindor, yes. I was in Gryffindor."  
"Why are they rivalling dorms?"  
"They have a bad history." Draco shrugged. "There are too many prejudices in place concerning the dorms."  
"What? That coming from the Slytherin Prince, Merlin's balls, has hell frozen over?"  
"Oh, come on. I mean, yeah, there is some truth concerning those prejudices, but, really. Look at Granger and Longbootom. You'd have put her in Ravenclaw and him into Hufflepuff. And uncle Sev – and he's mostly likely rolling over in his grave if he could hear what I'm about to say – but he had the main "Gryffindor" characteristic."  
"Un.. Uncle Sev? Are you talking about Severus Snape?" Dean stared at him big eyed and completely flabbergasted.  
"Well… yes."  
"You call the gr... bat Uncle Sev?"  
"He was my godfather."  
"Oh. Okay. That's… but you were right, he was courageous."  
"Even though he always remained cunning."  
"yes, yes."  
"And you know, Merlin, I can't believe I'm mentioning uncle Sev and _him_ in the same sentence, but they both lacked one attribute they should have had according to the prejudices."  
"They weren't pure."  
"Exactly."  
"Do you belong to that cult?"  
Both wizards stared at him in shock. "NO!" They both exclaimed simultaneously.  
"Wait. Is he talking about what I think he's talking about? OY! What the heck were you thinking telling him about that?"  
Draco felt uncomfortable which made him use a haughty tone of voice. "Are you mad? I only told them the abbreviated version. I told him about a cult, that my parents re-joined around my fifteenth birthday and that the leader of said cult had some strange views on who should be allowed to live. Did you really think I'd go into all the details? I know him only for a week! No offense, Glen."  
"Right." Both were staring at him. Glen was probably wondering just how much he left out while Dean sniggered.  
"That's a nice abbreviated version. It leaves out all the ugly parts."  
Shrugging Draco only frowned slightly.  
"More exactly, it leaves out all of _your_ involvements. I should have known you'd gloss over your parts." He suddenly sounded scathing.  
"How should I have explained that?" Draco asked matter-of-factly, masking the hurt he felt at the accusation with his best Malfoy-sneer.  
"Oh, you could have tried. That would have been the least you should have done, after everything you did!" The tone of voice turned hostile. "But then again, I should have known. You're Draco _BLACK_ after all." Sarcasm had nothing on what he made his last name sound like and Draco felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. After the earlier conversation for it to turn out this way, frankly, it hurt. Because, once again, he was condemned because of his so-called father and no matter who did that, it hurt. His face froze into an emotionless mask. "If you say so." He sneered, slammed some money for his beer on the bar and stormed out.

* * *

Half an hour after he came home and barricaded himself in his room, Glen knocked.  
Draco was tempted to tell him to go away but he knew that it would only postpone the inevitable. He knew he couldn't not talk about it, at the same time he was starting to wonder if he should just move on and file this last week away as a failed project. He was really tempted by it but he refused to give Lucius the satisfaction to ruin his life yet again.

So he opened the door. "Yes?" he asked annoyed.  
"Would you care to explain what happened earlier?" Glen entered the room and sat on Draco's bed without asking for permission and looked at him expectantly.  
"What do you want to know?" He snarled – and he had to give it to Glen, the guy had guts. It was obvious that he wanted to flinch away at his tone but he held his ground and just watched him calmly.  
Sighing, Draco closed the door and sat on his chair. "Okay, what is it?"  
"What the heck happened back there?"  
"We met an old classmate of mine."  
"That's not what I meant and you know it."  
"Then formulate your questions more specific."  
The look Glen gave him said a lot about what he thought about Draco's unwillingness to own up and explain – but he did rephrase his question.  
"Why did he suddenly blow up the way he did? And what did he mean 'the things you did'?"  
"Well, obviously he blew up because I did not tell you about 'the things I did'." Draco made air quotes.  
"Which would be?"  
"Nothing I want to talk about."  
"Draco." Glen narrowed his eyes at him.  
"Fine!" he hissed. "My father forced me to do some things I'm definitely not proud of!"  
A snort and a challenging look was all the answer he got.  
"He threatened me. And then 'Auntie Bella' moved in with us. And by then I would have to be suicidal to even try to refuse to do anything he told me to do." 'Apart from the fact that I wouldn't have been able to due to the Imperious. But I can't explain that to a muggle… Well, thank you, you asshole mudblood!' Inside Draco was seething – which also masked the fear he felt at the thought of having to explain things while taking the blame for things he had had no control over. Wait, did he just think 'fear'? That must be wrong, he didn't feel fear. End of discussion. It was a slight nervousness, maybe, but nothing more!  
"What do you mean you'd have to be suicidal? And what does it matter if your aunt lived with you?"  
"I mean that my father would have gladly killed me if I refused his orders or talked back at him or, hell, he'd have killed me if I had stepped a toe out of line! And then, Bellatrix moved in. She's a tyrant if you've ever seen one. Or maybe not exactly since she was… what did Granger call her behaviour?, she was like…_his_ groupie. And even more sadistic than _him_… or not, considering _he_ did not like to get his hands dirty." Draco mused aloud.  
Somewhere during his ranting, Glen had blanched and was now staring at him in shock and concern.  
"Wha… God's, Draco, I don't… I didn't… I…. oh, god. I just… What do you mean "even more sadistic than him or not since he did not want to get his hands dirty?" Glen ended up asking in a weak voice.  
"_He _was a fan of torture, if you did something wrong, you got tortured. If you did something right, maybe if he felt 'generous' you were allowed to torture someone else. Or if you really fucked up you were kindly 'allowed' to torture someone close to you. And Lucius fucked up big time. But luckily I was in the fortunate position of attending the same school as the boy who was supposedly the only one able to end _him…_" Dimly he noted that his voice sounded dead but he did not realise the ramifications. ", and he wanted a compliant _whe he _puppet instead of a half-dead torture toy."

The next thing Draco did realise – and it took him a bit to realise that – was that he was engulfed in a tight hug. Really, what was the deal with muggles and hugging? They seemed to do that an awful lot.  
Absentmindedly he tried to calm down. When had he started shaking anyway? He was a Malfoy for cryi- he violently flinched at the thought. Frantically he tried to calm down but failed. All he could see with his mind's eye were scenes from the time Malfoy Manor had been Death Eater City, err, Headquarters and his 'life' under Lucius control – per Imperious and … Possession for lack of a better word.

_Bellatrix Lestrange – or Auntie Bella as she forced him to call her; if he called her anything else he got crucio'd – smiled at the scene before her. The woman, no, the monster in a woman's skin obviously enjoyed watching her brother-in-law torturing her nephew, his own son, just because Voldemort was bored – and a bored Voldemort never was a good thing, nor was a bored Bellatrix for that matter. Draco only wished for this nightmare to end. He was dimly aware that he was in pain and that his body was screaming – but his consciousness was covered by so many layers of spells that he didn't really feel any of the torture. Or maybe that was his mind trying to protect himself._

_He stared at the poisoned wine in his hands trying to fight the Imperious but he was rapidly approaching the limits of his ability to fight the curse. He managed to use a botched up plan instead of a fool-proof one he could have easily come up with but he was unable not to do anything at all. He might not like Dumbledore and his affinity for filth (muggles and mudbloods) but he did not want the geezer dead. _

_He was standing in front of the Infirmary, frozen on the spot, unable to go in. Unwanting to go in. And yet he felt compelled to enter and take a look at the life he almost took accidentally to assure himself that the girl would make it. He tried to move forward and could not. He longingly stared at the door – and fled back to the dungeons._

_He wished for nothing more than to be able to talk to his godfather, he needed to talk to someone, he felt like he was going insane inside his own mind while his body had taken on a life of its own._

_Numbness. He felt as if his brain, his mind, his very being, was stowed with cotton. It was like watching himself from a third person's point of view. An out-of-body experience of sorts. But unlike a normal spectator he felt nothing at the horrors he saw. _

_He did not want to identify Harry. It was the first time in a very long time where he actually felt _something_. It was stupid and most likely a suicide attempt but he did not care any longer. All he knew was, that if anyone had a chance at ending this madness was Harry, and if he were to die then they all lost. The punishments were horrible, worse than anything before. Voldemort especially allowed all the curses on him to be lifted for the occasion. But by then he had long since given up and he was used to pain – both physically and emotionally… if there were any emotions left in him._

_He felt anger and hurt when his offer of friendship was refused – as misguided his offer was in hindsight – and being the spoilt brat that he was, or thought he was, it irked him to be refused and he did not think that this kid, no matter who he was, had any right to refuse him after all he had lowered himself to extend the hand in friendship. Oh, revenge would be sweet. _

_'Auntie Bella's' reaction when she heard that he was repeatedly bested by a mudblood at school was ten times worse than his father's had been back then after the end of first year. It was the first time he realised that the pain a crucio inflicted on the victim differed according to the strength of its castor. _

_He stood before Dumbledore, his wand trained at the wizard's throat – and he could not do it. He fought with everything he had to lower the wand even for an inch, no, even a millimetre would be a worthy goal. He was desperate. No matter what stunts he pulled when he was younger and as much as he had liked getting others in trouble, bullying them and even letting Crabbe and Goyle beat them up, he did not want to kill anyone. Apart from the one who was responsible for him standing there, in front of the wizard he was about to kill… And suddenly his uncle Sev entered the scene. He heard the broken plea that Dumbledore uttered – and seconds later his world fell apart when his uncle proved himself a loyal Death Eater after all. With Dumbledore's death whatever faith he'd had in humans, wizards or humanity was destroyed.  
And how could he have ever thought that his uncle Sev was on Voldemort's side? He should have known better. He should've… He should've known. The man had taught him every last moral he had – how could he have ever believed the man without morals, without values?  
The only real parent he had had in the end and he easily mistrusted and scorned the man. _

_He was five and playing with some toys when his father entered the room and snarled at him to clean his mess up or he'd sent Aunt Bella after him._

_The summer after his fourth year when his world collapsed for the first time. He was ready to join Voldemort's noble cause, and it would be an honour to serve him. But he was to young as of yet. The Dark Lord did not want children in his ranks – but of course he would be allowed to spy on his peers for _him_. And then the horror when he met the Dark Lord. He could not understand why his father who was all for the purity of blood could ever support such a creature. But he must've had his reasons. _

_His seventh birthday when all his toys were confiscated because he said something wrong at the last business meeting his father took him to. His parents had hosted him a marvellous birthday party but as soon as the guests were gone, his father turned cold._

_The summer after his fourth year again where his father who had indeed loved him and his mother very much at one time was turned into a fanatic that did not care one bit for the people he should have held close._

_The day where he was told he was to kill Dumbledore. His mother had paled and seemed about to faint, but not once had she tried to help him. Not once had she tried to plead for him. She just watched. She hadn't done anything. She hadn't tried anything. No matter how much he tried to plead her to help him. She had just stood there and watched. _

_When he found out that Voldemort was finally dead, he did not know what to feel. He supposed he should feel relieved, glad even. But such emotions were foreign to him by then. All he felt was emptiness. He barely remembered what it felt like to be free._

_He also supposed that he should feel lucky that Lucius removed the curses and spells on him at the beginning of the final battle, thinking that they had been able to break his will and convert him to their side, to be able to use his powers to his full potential without using part of it to control his son. Needless to say that he miscalculated. But what good did it do? Hadn't it already been too late?_

_So many had died. How many would still live if he had been able to throw off the imperious like Potter did? Or would it have made no difference at all with his so-called father using the net of spells and curses even earlier? _

_Fire. All around him. Vince. Burnt flesh and a scream. Fear – and hope. Bittersweet hope that everything would be over soon. And then he was on a broom. And the smell of burnt flesh followed him into his dreams. The next time he came across meat he ran to the next loo and vomited. _

_Fire. Everywhere. Burning everything in its way._

_Some halfblood attacking him when he went to Hogsmeade in his eighth year. Screaming insults at him. Yelling that he should be in Azkaban. That he should get a kiss. That scum like him did not even deserve to be born. That he was just like his father. _

_His father bought a set of Nimbus 2001's at the beginning of his second year. During his sixth year he realised that his father had not bought them for his benefit but only to further his own career. His father had masked his own personal agenda behind a generous gift for his son and a conviently placed donation. _

The memories that assaulted Draco were a jumbled mess. The forth and back, the randomness of their appearance, the speed in which they flashed by, it was overwhelming.  
And then there was darkness. Peace. Welcoming the soothing nothingness that was a balm to his frayed nerves and jumbled mind, he collapsed in Glen's arms.

* * *

He opened his eyes. Why was he looking at the ceiling? And it wasn't his ceiling… Maybe he fell asleep on the couch? But what had he been doing… Oh. The fog in his mind cleared as he remembered the evening before. Well… shit. Slowly he said up.  
"You okay?" He moved his head into the direction of the voice. Glen's voice.  
"How long was I out?"  
"An hour or so."  
"What time is it?"  
"A little after half past five in the morning. I figured there was no use in going to sleep anymore so I decided to pull an all-nighter. So. You okay?"  
Draco nodded. "Yeah. Sorry about earlier."  
Snorting Glen shook his head. "Nah. Don't worry about it. Sorry about accusing you like that… But after what Dean, right?, said, I didn't know what to think – I mean you didn't even try to defend yourself. And while he did say, that it was mostly bad blood talking, he also said that he could not take it back because it was the truth… He didn't make much sense, but he told me to tell you he was sorry for complicating things by mentioning things that were impossible to explain to an outsider… Which I find hard to believe but…"

Draco shrugged.  
"Anyway, he gave me his cell phone number in case you wanted to 'talk to someone who knows'. His words, not mine."  
"Someone who knows, huh? I doubt it." But he took the scrap of paper with Dean's number from Glen.

* * *

**AN2:** Originally the chapter ended with Draco fainting, but that way it didn't really fit with the beginning of the next chapter which is why I uploaded it this way instead.

Draco's breakdown may have come as a surprise, but it is necessary for him to deal with his past. And do not forget, the past he has in this fic, is even more traumatic than simply having fought in a war. I do not plan on turning this into an overly angstic psychoanalytical story of sorts.  
This chapter should be the last that deals with his past for now. In the next chapter, life goes on ;)

Thank you for reading.

To be continued next week.


	19. Ch18: Finding a new Job

**AN:** After last week's long-ish chapter(*cough*twicethenormallength*cough*) today's chapter is rather short. I'm sorry about that but this chapter is a transition (sort-of) and well... I hope you'll enjoy it despite its short-ness.

**Warnings:** the usual and like the last chapter, this is neither beta-ed nor proof-read. (The first two weeks of university were rather busy, I'll try and go back and replace it with a beta-ed version once things settled down a bit :) )

* * *

The next two weeks went by quietly.  
Glen and Draco never talked about that evening and Draco didn't call Dean. Cassie was almost never around because of her finals, she was either studying or at the university. And Lynn didn't even know about Draco's background. Not that they purposely did not tell her, it just never came up.

Draco formed some sort of temporary weekly routine. He would deliver papers three times a week, he would spend 2 hours every afternoon grooming their garden – which was blossoming – and on the weekends he'd cook for all of them.

His job was limited to one month. He was a fill-in for a regular who was taking a vacation. But he didn't mind. It was no job he was interested in doing for a prolonged amount of time but it was nice to earn some money, not much but some, while he looked for a real job. He didn't want to 'jump the gun' like the first time, as Lynn had called it.

Speaking of Lynn, she had not repeated 'her offer for sexual favours' – even though she had a nervous breakdown or something… She had dissolved into tears over the tastiness of his concoctions. But as he had gotten used to her dramatics, he had pretty much ignored that.

All in all he had settled in. Somehow, he fit into the odd trio turned quartet. But most importantly, they accepted him. Not the Malfoy heir, not the Slytherin' Prince, not Lucius' son, not even a wizard. To them, he was a person like everybody else. No one special.  
Growing up, he would never have thought he'd find solace in being nothing special.

But it was true. He relished the fact that no one had any expectations on how he would act and react.

The Saturday evening three weeks after he moved in, after a dinner that Draco had cooked, Cassie offered to refer him to a friend of hers whose father owned a restaurant and was looking for some help in the kitchen. It was only chopping vegetables and keeping an eye on the pots but it was a start. And it was definitely better suited for him than his job as an errand-boy.

Three days later, he had his interview. Just because he got recommended, did not mean he had the job. Apparently, Mr Eichenhof, his new boss hopefully, did not believe in 'Vitamin B' as he called it. Draco did not know what that was supposed to mean but Cassie told him that he meant, that he was no one who took recommendations on face value and he did not give out any jobs just because someone had good connections.  
He surprised his roommates when he just smiled and said that he appreciated this way of thinking. He had definitely changed. He wanted to get the job because he was good at what he did, not because someone thought he'd be the right person for the job.

Despite what he said to them, he was quite nervous when he showed up for his interview at 2 o'clock the next Tuesday.  
He had been told to knock and enter the restaurant and that he should go to the kitchen where Mr Eichenhof would be preparing for the evening and were he would 'have to show what he got'.

So, following that, he took a deep breath and when no one answered he entered the restaurant and made his way for the kitchen. Upon entering he got sneered at "We're closed! And the kitchen is off limits for… Oh. You're Black, right? Is it 2 o'clock already?"  
He nodded. "Yes, it's 2. And yes, I'm Draco Black." He smiled politely.  
"Yes, well. I heard you were the friend of my son's classmate but rest assured, that won't be any help to you now. I wouldn't care if you were Prince William. I only care about the work you do here. If you're able then you'll get the job, If you aren't… well, forget this job.  
Now, down to business. I also don't care about your resume. You'll have to show me what you can do. There are a bunch of vegetables that need to be chopped. Get going, you got five minutes."

Draco was finished in four.  
"Good. You're fast. During rush hour, you're gonna need that if you get the job. Now, here." Mr Eichenhof purposely ruined some soup. "Is this salvageable, and if yes, could you do it?"  
Draco almost snorted. Salvaging a soup had nothing on salvaging a potion. It was an easy task. So he went right ahead.

Mr Eichenhof tasted the soup without showing any reaction (years of knowing Snape told Draco that it was an approval nonetheless) and gave him his next task.  
"Make a dressing."

"Roast that."

"Cut that meat."

"Stir that soup. How much longer does it have to cook?"

Half an hour later, he was interrogated about everything there was to know about work in the kitchens and then some. He was reminded more and more of his godfather.  
And while he did not know some of the words, and the answers to some of his questions, he went with his gut feeling.

Needless to say, he got the job.

* * *

Three days later, on Friday he officially started to work.

It was dull work, he was only allowed to chop vegetables and meat, but he liked it nonetheless. It was something he was good at, after all. It would have been even better if he'd been allowed to cook, but he knew that'd be pushing it especially this early on the job.  
And his new boss once again reminded him of Snape. He was very reluctant to openly complement his work, but Draco could tell that he approved of his work. He kept a straight face or rather a slight frown, but Draco was familiar with that kind of frown. With his uncle it had meant that he was almost disappointed that he had nothing to complain about – because he had not expected it.

On the other hand, he was glad that he was only expected to cut, slice and chop. It meant that he did not need to use any electronic appliances, or whatever these machineries were called.

After his shift (which basically covered the whole time the restaurant was open in the evening and then some), he walked home. It was a beautiful night and he decided to go for a detour to spend some more time outside.

By the time he came home, it was past 2 a.m. but he did not mind – until he actually entered the house and was faced with the annoyed faces of his roommates. Well… Damn. He sighed. "Hi guys."  
"Don't "hi guys"' us. Where the heck have you been? We've been worried! You should've been home ages ago. We wanted to know how it went, and when you didn't come home…"  
"Sorry, sorry." He rolled his eyes. "But it was beautiful outside. And work was okay." He smiled.  
"Good." Cassie returned his smile. "Well, I'm going to bed." And off she went.

Lynn asked for details and she didn't let go when he said that it was nothing special until he (out of desperation) launched into a minimalistic account how he chopped a tomato, 2 carrots and a cucumber. She surrendered after that.

Glen sniggered. "I have to remember that. It's quite effective apparently." Draco winked at him and left for bed as well.

But even after getting ready for bed Draco sat in his chair staring at his muggle-book. He was hardly tired and he was feeling pensive.

In the end, because he was annoyed at himself for thinking about his past again, he decided on a whim to send Dean a short message.

~Hello Thomas. Since I was given your number I thought it only fair if I gave you mine as well. Black~

He was about to go to sleep when his mobile phone buzzed next to him on the nightstand. Blinking the sleep away, he read the answer.

~howdy Black. I'm sorry about what I said last time. I was just… I hadn't expected to meet you, you snake. How're things on your end? Oh, and, in case you're wondering, I told Z I'd seen M in Portsmouth – while visiting a friend from primary school. I felt bad about not saying anything, Z was really worried.~

He frowned. He didn't know how he felt about Dean Thomas saying anything to Blaise, but he figured it was better this way. He had not really wanted to worry Blaise, he had just wanted to get away from everything. And he figured it was better if Blaise thought him in Portsmouth – he would not search for him in London then.

~Thanks, I guess.~

~You're welcome.~

* * *

**AN2:** See you next week, I hope. ;)  
Thank you for reading.


	20. Ch19: Lux

**AN:** I'm really, really sorry . I had a bloody busy week - I've barely been home since last friday. In the end, I kinda snapped at my busy schedule and am updating from university right now. Because I would have had to put DB on a two-week-hiatus otherwise, since I won't be home on the weekend and I also won't have access to the internet (unless you count my mobile but I can't upload from that). I apologize.

**Warnings:** some swearing...

* * *

The next morning he was once again, out in the garden. It almost resembled a real garden by now, but it still needed some more time for the plants to grow. While he worked in the garden he worked up an appetite, and after he finished for today, he went inside to fetch himself some breakfast.

When he entered the kitchen he found Glen sitting at the kitchen table and staring at an open and empty envelope. Ah, no, the letter had apparently fallen to the floor.  
"Glen?" Gazing at him worriedly, Draco bent down, picked up the letter and carefully placed it on the table. He frowned.  
"Glen, what's wrong?" He kneeled in front of his friend and peered at his shell-shocked face.  
"..d it." Draco had to strain his ears to hear anything at all.  
"What?" he asked softly.  
"Read it." The almost-despair in Glen's voice worried him.

Frowning, Draco took the letter and, after another glance at Glen to make sure that this was what he wanted, began to read.

_Dear Glen Scott, _- the name was inserted by hand, the rest of the letter was typed and printed.

_Dear Glen Scott,_

_Due to my approaching 25__th__ Birthday – it is a quarter of a century after all – I wanted to invite you to my birthday party on the 22__nd __of September. _

_I will be celebrating my birthday at the Lux, a club in downtown London. The address is  
XXXXXXXXXX Street  
London XXXXXX._

_Next to the club is a café (KoMi) which I rented and the evening will start there at 8 o'clock. There will be a champagne reception and at about half past 9 we will move on to next door. _

_If you could please tell me if you will or will not attend till the 31__st__ of August, and if you will come alone or with a date, I'd appreciated it.  
I'm looking forward to seeing you at the 22__nd__._

_Until then,  
Mike Lithman. _

Draco could not see what was wrong with the letter.  
"So… what about it?"  
"It's at the lux…" Glen's voice was almost too low for Draco to hear.  
"And…?"  
"I don't…. I want to go, but I can't. Not when it's at the Lux." His voice shook.  
"Why? What is wrong with this… 'the Lux'? I don't know the… club, but…"  
"That's…. that's where I met Peter." Glen's voice sounded thick.  
Staring at him, Draco frowned. Who was Peter? Suddenly, it clicked. "Oh. Peter's that ex of yours, right?" He cringed at his own question.  
"Yes. Peter is 'that ex of mine'." Glen said bitterly.  
"Sorry." Draco stated, once again kneeling in front of Glen.  
Snorting, Glen looked away.  
"I don't want to go, but I already told Mike that I am free that evening – before I knew where he'd celebrate. What do I do?"  
"Go there?" asked Draco softly.  
"I can't. That's Pete's club."  
"He owns the club?"  
"No, but he's there every weekend."  
"Oh."

A snort. "Yes. 'Oh'."  
"So… what are you going to do?"  
"I'll tell him that I will attend… but I guess I'll be sick that day."  
"So, in short, you want to run away and let him win." Draco knew that he was cruel just then, but if the war had taught him one thing then it was that running away never worked out. It only made things worse in the long run.

Glaring at him, Glen hissed. "What do you suppose I do then?"  
"Go."  
"Are you mad?"  
"I think not. I'm quite sane, thank you. But I really think you ought to go."  
"Well, I won't."  
"You need to go. Not because you told Mike that you're free that day, but for yourself. You need to go. If you let the fear of meeting him again rule you like that, you will never get over him."  
"Oh, thank you Doctor Freud!" snarled Glen.  
"Who?"  
"Doctor Freud?" Glen blinked at him. That had completely taken the wind out of his sails. "The psychologist. Doctor Freud? No? Err, Nevermind then." He shook his head. "But I still won't go."  
"You should though."  
"I don't care."  
Draco sighed. There was no arguing with Glen right now – but he would make him go. "We'll see."

He stood up and made himself breakfast.  
"Want some?" A weak nod-gone-shrug was the only answer he received. He rolled his eyes and went about making breakfast for both of them.

In the end he made brunch for all of them.

* * *

In the evening he went to work. Work itself was okay though boring, but he met one of the waitresses, Charlene – or Charlie as her friends called her apparently. She was... nice. Not. He had flirted with her anyways – it was quite funny actually, he thought, to flirt with her. Her responses were quite scathing and the only entertainment he had on the job that evening – it was a slow evening and he was mostly just standing around. So, every time she entered the kitchen he graced her with some sort of flirtatious comment – and he actually enjoyed being shot down because of her witty comments, they were refreshing in a way.

To his immense surprise, or not so much of a surprise, considering everything, he found out why she had been as unresponsive when they all went home after work.  
Apparently he had been hitting on a lesbian. At least, he thought that the kiss she and the girl that came to get her shared was a pretty obvious indication.

He had to laugh at the sight only to have Charlie scowling at him.  
"What?" She snarled at him but he ignored her annoyance and winked at her.  
"I figured as much. The one girl who was able to refuse me had to be a lesbian." He grinned but apparently Charlie was too angry to realise he was joking.  
He rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, Charlie, I'm joking."  
She still glowered at him and her girlfriend raised a brow.  
"Don't worry, I'm not interested in you – I just figured a little flirting couldn't hurt. And you're comebacks were nice." He winked at her and surprisingly her girlfriend started to laugh.  
"I like you." She grinned. "I'm Mona."  
"Draco." He smiled. "Nice to meet you, Mona. … So you don't mind if I flirt with your girl?"  
"As long as you don't mean it… or rather as long as you're not trying anything."  
"OY!" Both Mona and Draco laughed at Charlie's outburst. For a moment she stared at them in anger, then she sighed in exasperation and rolled her eyes.  
"Okay, okay. You can stop laughing now." Simultaneously they stuck out their tongues at her then blinked in surprise which made her laugh in return.  
"Okay then." Mona grinned. "Change of plans. You're going clubbing with us, Draco."  
"What?"

Ignoring his question, Mona linked arms with him and dragged him along. Laughing at his face, Charlie followed them and took Mona's other hand.

How the hell did things end with him going clubbing with two lesbian muggle girls?  
To his surprise, he realised that he did not mind. He didn't mind that they were muggle, he didn't mind that they were girls and he certainly didn't care that they were gay.

He let himself get dragged along for a minute before he stopped.  
"Wait a minute." He took out his mobile and sent a short text to Glen. "Otherwise I'd get killed once I get home."  
"Girlfriend?"  
"Err, no. Roommate. 'sides, Glen's a guy." He shrugged. "So. Where are we going?"

"Lux."

Draco gaped at them.  
"What? It's a pretty tolerant place. We can hardly drag you to a gay club, right?"  
He nodded dumbly. "Yeah… But…" Suddenly he stopped short. "I'm not dressed for a night out!"  
The girls only grinned. "Don't worry." Mona said and Charlie added "Do you like your shirt?"  
Frowning in confusion he shrugged. "Not particularly, no."  
"Good." Mona gave him a predatory grin, took out some scissors and before he could react, cut his shirt open on each side – without harming his jacket. She didn't give him a chance to complain, by the time he got over his shock and opened his mouth, she had already 'repaired' it with quite a few safety pins. "Now that's better. But still…" She added a few more stylish cuts and pins.

Draco was just happy that she was a muggle and used muggle means – if she had cut his shirt using magic he would have had reacted on instinct which would most likely have ended deadly or at least in him attacking her in defence.  
But he managed to rein in his temper and hold still under her ministrations – and to his surprise it actually looked good when she gave him a (small) mirror at the next street lantern.

"I'm a designer in training." She said as a matter of an explanation when he gave her a look.  
He nodded. "You seem to show promise." It made her blush.

Charlie rolled her eyes and continued walking making the others follow her.

* * *

The club they dragged him to seemed rather nice. It was quite loud in the main room – the room with the biggest dance floor but there were a few smaller rooms with dance floors, three to be exact, and two small rooms with only a bar and a few tables each.

The girls showed him to every room before they settled on one of the tables in one of the small dance-floor-less rooms. He hadn't known any of the music played on their little 'tour' but he found the muggle music to be bearable if not nice – if it weren't being played quite as loud.

They sat around the table with a beer each and Mona started to interrogate him. He felt he was having a déjà-vu.

"So, Draco, right? How old are you? Where you from? You work in the kitchen, right? What's your favourite dish? Can you cook? Do you like your job?" She stopped to take a breath.  
"Yes; 19; Scotland; Yes; spinach dumplings and white mushroom sauce; Yes and well, it's okay."  
Charlie laughed.

After half an hour of civilized small talk – as much as it was possible to talk with the music in the background – he knew that Charlie was from somewhere in Wales, Mona was a complete Londoner and they met in Oslo in a bookshop. They'd been together for three years by now. Mona was 22 and Charlie was 18 and 5 months. He didn't know why those five months were important but apparently they were. They were both only children originally but Mona had 3 step-brothers, one of which was older than her.

After another half an hour and altogether three or four beers and two shots each, they made their way onto the dance floor. Draco was reluctant to go, after all he had no idea how muggles danced. But the girls made forced him to go – he was sure they used some kind of force at the very least. He definitely wasn't drunk enough to think that it was a good idea to dance!

No matter, he did dance – and he didn't even embarrass himself. As a matter of fact, he seemed to be doing pretty well, considering how many people tried to hit on him. Sadly, he found most of their attempts either completely ridiculous or hilarious, mostly both. He managed to behave himself and not laugh at them though when he turned them down.

He was about to leave the dance floor for a pause and another drink when someone suddenly draped an arm over his shoulder.  
"Dray~co~, honey. What are you doing here?" He knew that voice. Blaise.  
Well, it seemed like he just got lucky and Blaise was too drunk to…  
"Wait a minute. Draco? What the heck? You're here? Where have you been? Man, I've been worried you asshole!"  
…or maybe not.

"Blaise. Hi. I..."  
"You owe me an explanation you arse! Where the hell have you been?"  
Apparently, Zabini was very angry because he had grabbed Draco by his shoulders and was shaking him.  
"I-I'm sor-ry. I didn't…. I just wanted to leave that all behind…"  
"I don't give a fuck, you bitch! You should have said something! Anything. Not just disappear without a word making us think _they_ got to you!"  
"I'm sorry." The apology took him over a minute to pronounce because Blaise was still shaking him.

Luckily, Charlie came to his rescue and pulled Blaise off him.  
"What the hell, man? Chill." She narrowed her eyes at Blaise.  
"Who the heck are you? His girl?"  
"Sure as hell not! No offence, Charlie. Blaise, sweetheart." He hated to call Blaise that but it was the most effective way to calm him down. (They found that out when he and Pansy got into a really ugly row while Draco and Pansy were still 'dating' during fifth year.) "I'm sorry, okay? I should have said something to you, but I couldn't be sure you'd be the only one to hear or read whatever I told you. And no offence, but I wanted no one to know where I went."  
"Which is okay, but you know. You could have left a note, telling me, us, _someone_ that you were making a world tour or some shit like that. Something, anything other than disappearing without a word. I mean, what was I supposed to think? Chocy, really, given the, err, situation…. YOU SHOULD HAVE SAID SOMETHING YOU EQUUS!" Draco blinked, then laughed and after hitting him over the head Blaise laughed as well.  
"I'm not even asking to tell me how to contact you or where you live but… please. Don't do that to me again. Are you okay? Do you have a safe place to live?"  
Draco nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine. It's not only safe but nice as well. I'm rooming with some people who don't know about you know…."  
Blaise nodded in understanding. "I see. I'm delighted for you. But still. I don't care how you do it but write me every once in a while to let me know you're still breathing, mate."  
Without waiting for an answer Blaise carried on.

"You okay? … What the hell was that about?"  
"I'm fine. He's just an old dorm mate from school – and I committed the crime of not staying in contact…" He sighed theatrically making her giggle and then she lost her balance and fell over. Draco barely managed to catch her and half-carried her to a table and placed her on a stool.

Not a second later Mona came running and decided that they should call it a night.  
Draco told the girls to go on without him, he was the only one with a jacket at the cloakroom.

When he was about to exit the club he was stopped by a guy who made him a questionable offer. He almost broke the guy's nose but in the end he refused to get his hands dirty and didn't deign to show a visible reaction to the guy and left without acknowledging him.

* * *

**AN2:** Again, I'm sorry for updating 'behind schedule'.

"Chocy" is a nickname like honey (in the story)

Oh, and since I'm not from Britain or any other English-speaking nation and I never received an invitation to a birthday party or the like that was written in English, I have no idea how these things are phrased ;) I decided to swing it and hope it doesn't sound too fake.

In case anyone is wondering, the 'Lux' is a club that's really tolerant towards sexuality and stuff, so usually there's no trouble which is why many gay people go there if they don't want to go to an exclusively gay club... The club is ficitonal, if there is a club by that name in London, it's a coincidence. ö.O

Anyone already guessing who the guy at the end of the chapter was?

TBC around the 17th of November


	21. Ch20: Work&Daily Life

**AN:** Hello again...  
Well, another chapter... not exactly one of my better ones, sorry, but university is quite intense at the moment... I praying for Friday to arrive (because then my presentation on Wednesday, the exam at Thursday and the essay due to thursday will be history and I will have time to write again... so bear with me please.)

**Warnings:** Err... no clue. The usual, I guess.

* * *

The next week was pretty quiet apart from one or two mishaps where he missed muggle vocabulary.

To the surprise of their colleagues Draco and Charlie flirted with each other during their shared work hours. They didn't know that they 'flirted' for the sake of flirting and didn't mean anything by it – it was to their mutual amusement and the faces their colleagues made from time to time only added to their fun. But that didn't mean they were slacking off, far from it. They both did their job. They liked their jobs and Draco even managed to weasel his way into a promotion of sorts. He didn't get any more money but he still managed to silently become a cooking assistant. During rush hour he was allowed to cook the simpler dishes by himself.

He hadn't told Glen about where he went yet, simply because they hadn't seen each other since then. Glen was called home because his mother had been in a car crash and he returned to Scotland for two weeks. He had called once to let them know that his mum was fine and would soon be released from the hospital but would be walking with crutches for about a month and a half.

When Lynn told him about that he had asked her how long Glen's mum would need to stay at the asylum – she had nearly hit him for that. The one book he had about muggles had said that asylum would be just another word for hospital and Draco had no idea why Lynn reacted that strongly – and since she refused to talk to him after that, she didn't explain it to him either. (She managed to keep it up for approximately 14 hours and 53 minutes before her resolve broke. But she still didn't explain what was wrong with his question.)

The other mishap happened at work. He had asked Charlie if she needed some help to straighten out her girlfriend – she had told him a few minutes earlier that they had a huge fight over a misunderstanding because Mona had been stressed.  
The connection between 'Straighten out' and 'straight' didn't occur to him until it was too late and his colleagues thought him an intolerant asshole. Just great.

Luckily for him, Charlie realised that he'd been unaware of what he implied with the question, after she got over the first shock. She actually broke down laughing and had another giggling fit when after work she explained to him what he had said and saw his face when he realised his faux-pas. She had been shocked to find out that he'd never encountered the notion that it might be necessary to "straighten someone out" _that_ way.  
Her explanations explained the looks their colleagues had given them when they continued flirting after he put his foot in.

They asked him to go clubbing with them again the next weekend and he agreed.  
Barely concealing her mirth Mona asked him if he still wanted to "turn her straight" as a way of greeting. He got the feeling that he wouldn't be allowed to live that down.

The evening out was nice enough – even though he got pressured into asking a girl there out for a date – Rachel, a girl that somehow reminded him of a mixture of Goyle and Finch-Fletchey. He couldn't pin down why that was though.

They met the following Tuesday for a movie and dinner afterwards.  
The movie was okay but the dinner… it was a disaster. Well, as a date it was a disaster, other than that it was okay – probably. Rachel kept talking about that guy she was interested in, a guy that was apparently good in sports, had good grades, was nice, loved to play chess and something called W.O.W. – he had no idea what 'wow' meant, except for, well, 'wow' and he decided to ask Glen about it later.  
The girl was completely smitten… Damnable Hufflepuff. He couldn't care less how great her guy was, but while going on and on about the guy she unknowingly told him a lot about muggles in general as well.  
All in all, it was bearable although he found it quite difficult to explain why he snorted when he heard her full name. He felt tempted to laugh when she told him that her full name was Rachel Celina Finch.

He came home to a full house that day. Some people from Glen's university that attended the same lectures invited themselves to their homes for a study session. How they envisioned a study session with more than twenty people was beyond him though.

It was way too loud and together with Lynn and Cassie he fled the house again. And he was dragged to the zoo because neither he nor Cassie had had anything special in mind when they ran and Lynn suddenly decided she wanted to see pandas.

Draco found the Zoo to be quite an interesting experience. There were no magical creatures there only muggle animals. Some of which he had never seen before while others resided in both worlds. He was shocked to see a Belgian python, though. A Belgian python was classified as a magical creature because its poisonous blood was used in many Dark potions.  
She was wrongly classified as a Ball python but the colour and pattern was all wrong. He sent a text to Dean about it and Lynn explained to him how he could add a picture to his message so he also sent a picture of the python, too. Apparently the quality was really bad, but Cassie had added that he should be glad that a mobile of his' batch was even able to make photographs.

He found it a bit awkward when they passed a bunch of ferrets but despite all of the girls pestering he did not tell them why.  
And then they arrived at the pandas' cage… It was impossible to drag Lynn away from there – she claimed she was in a way too interesting to stop conversation with one of them and her two companions braced themselves for a loooong evening.  
They ended up playing "Last-Letter" as Cassie called it.  
"Tiger"  
"Rat"  
"Tortoise"  
"Eagle"  
"Elephant."  
"Turkey"  
"… Yak?"  
"Kangaroo"  
"Oyster"  
They spent over half an hour like that while Lynn was happily talking away with one of the pandas.

That night, Draco dreamt of dancing pandas in the forbidden forest.

Work the next day was hell – Charlie wanted an exact recollection of everything Rachel said and did to dissect it. And then she relayed every last shred of her findings to him again. A trait that reminded him of Greengrass. He shuddered. What was the use? It wasn't as if he'd been interested.

And then, one of the ovens stopped functioning - it was quite hectic after that. In a way, he liked it, he had always been able to perform well under pressure – when it came to potions that is, and therefore he was also able to perform well when it came to cooking. But it was also chaotic and sent them all in a frenzy – a frenzy that resulted with everyone that came in contact with the kitchen (except Draco, at the beginning at least) being in a rotten mood.

The only good thing about the day was that the wife of his boss asked him if he were interested in an apprenticeship the next day. He would have to wait for the new year for it to begin officially because he missed the autumn deadline but he figured it was fine anyway. And it seemed, 'officially' was not the same as 'unofficially'. Because as soon as he had said that he was interested, his boss started to give him the third degree. He spent his whole evening telling his boss about diverse spices and seasonings while he was doing his normal workload.

He did fine at the beginning but later on he started to have difficulties _not_ to mention wizarding spices and their properties, especially when his boss asked him how to counter having too much salt in a soup for example. He almost answered with Syrup of Green Pumpkin Weed. He barely managed to change his answer to sugar. The only answer his boss didn't seem to like.

He fell asleep as soon as he fell into bed once he finally came home.

The next day was a bad day as well – but for a different reason. He hadn't really thought about it before but when he saw the newspaper that morning – or rather the date on the newspaper – he realised that it was his mother's birthday.

He didn't know what to think. He had burned all bridges behind him but… she was his mother. He didn't want to think about her as his mother, he couldn't see her as his mother anymore, not really anyway, but at the same time he could not renounce her the same way he did Lucius, not knowing she was in 's because she went insane over everything that had happened during the war, not when he knew that it was partly because she witnessed the things Lucius did to him and made him do.

But then again, it was her own damn fault for being that weak!

Draco ran straight to the toilet where he was sick. –he couldn't believe he had thought that. That was Lucius talking and he loathed himself for it – and it gave him some very bloodthirsty fantasies.

"You okay, mate?" unknowingly to him, Glen had entered the bathroom. "What's wrong?"  
"Nothing."  
"Yeah right. Dra…. Black, what's wrong?"  
"I said, it's nothing!" He snarled and got up – only to sit right back down and empty his stomach again when he realised he'd been about to cast a really nasty wandless curse at Glen.  
"Shit." He groaned and Glen handed him a wet cloth to wipe his mouth.  
"Thanks."  
"Think you can stand up?"  
"I was sick, not dying." Glen actually laughed at that but helped him up anyway.  
"You look like hell."  
"That's what I feel like." Draco rinsed his mouth while Glen flushed the toilet.  
"Ate something wrong?"  
"no…" He paused but then opened up hesitantly "Thought something wrong… Something that was my… well, Lucius, talking – and it made me sick to the stomach."  
"Do you want to talk about it?"  
"No. But… can…" He couldn't bring himself to ask Glen to keep him company so he changed the topic and asked him about 'wow' instead.

Ten minutes later, his mind was really but he had no idea what Glen was talking about, really, the only thing he was able to comprehend was that it was the abbreviation of a game that was played on the comp… comp… competer thingy. He forgot the name of that machinery.

If he was honest, he didn't really care about it either but he was glad for the distraction. And Glen seemed to sense that – he 'forced' a lesson in how to use one of these com-something-things onto him.  
Draco didn't really memorise much of it, only how to turn the thing on and that you could connect to write essays and stuff on it, but other than that it just went in one ear and out the other. He was just glad that Lynn was out, she probably wouldn't have left him alone until he was able to recite every last thing she tried to teach him.

When Glen went to the toilet and accidently left his mobile phone on the living room table, Draco 'stole' it. He tried – and failed to find the phone number of the Mike Lithman guy.  
Because Glen startled him coming back, Draco accidentally pocketed it.

Accidentally because he hadn't really meant to but he kind of panicked – he figured it wasn't exactly nice to sneak around in someone else's mobile phone, just like you wouldn't go through their trunks or read their letters without permission – except your name was Theodore Nott of course.

Draco remembered one time during fifth year where one of the third years had annoyed Nott and in retaliation Nott had decorated the common room with every last thing that had been in the third year's trunk.  
And then there was the time when Nott had been bored and hung all the socks from Crabbe's and Goyle's trunks from the ceiling – with a permanent sticking charm… It had taken them three days to get them all down. Not Crabbe and Goyle, mind you, Pansy and he had had to take them down.  
But that time Nott claimed to have used 'accio'.  
Oh, and then there was the time when Nott had also been bored and turned everything inside their trunks a hideously yellowy colour.

So, later that day – Glen had gone out for shopping, still without realising his phone was gone – Draco tried again and this time he was successful and he sent a text to Lithman, telling him, he (that means Glen) would attend his birthday celebration.  
Afterwards he put the mobile back on the living room table.

* * *

**AN2: **WEll, that was that. Now, after twenty chapters I want to say thank you to every one who reviewed. If I didn't answer your reviews yet, don't worry, I will - as soon as this week is over. That goes for the reviews from members since one can't answer a guest/anonymous review and I don't like posting answers in the ANs. If it's an important question I'll probably add a short answer anyway... we'll see.  
Also, I want to thank the reader who nominated me for the "Energize W.I.P Awards" - I feel honoured.


	22. Ch22: The Consequences of Drinking

**AN: **A bit on the short side but I wanted to return to posting at weekends and I didn't really have time for much more - after all I had no time to write till last thursday, more like last friday actually. Anyway. No that I do have more time I plan on returning to posting chappies with 2000words or more, but sadly, not today (yet).

**WArnings:** well... mentioning of drinking, a hangover (- is that even worth mentioning? I don't really think so...) oh, and some swearing I believe.

* * *

Looking out of the window, he saw a tree. It was a nice tree. A really nice tree. He liked the colour of its leaves. They were of a nice brownish green colour. He really liked the colour…

Okay, maybe Charlie had been right, he definitely had had too much to drink. If he was about to fall in love with a tree already, he definitely had had enough. Sighing at his own stupidity, Draco exited the cab, paid his driver with the only bill he was sure would cover the fare – a hundred pound note – and walked over to the door. Well, he tried to walk.  
The fact that he ran into the fence that separated their and their neighbours front step, didn't really speak for his ability to walk in a straight line.

Silently cursing himself, he made his way to the front door painstakingly slow and fumbled with the lock for about five minutes before he mumbled a wandless alohomora and finally went into the house. Sluggishly he made his way to his room and fell onto his bed – too tired to change into his pyjamas he went to sleep.

The morning after a round of clubbing he barely remembered (well, he did remember some parts but…) he'd kill for some hangover potion. He should have remembered the fact that he no longer had access to it. Now, it was too late and his head was killing him – or rather the hippogriff that was dancing tango inside his head was killing him. Or maybe a trampling mob of trolls was a more decent description. He groaned and tried to sit up. Vertigo was a bitch.

He dimly remembered having a drinking contest with some guy who asked him for a dance – damn. He should have taken the dance instead of refusing and – after the guy had refused to give up – challenging him to a drinking game. If he remembered correctly he had won – but now he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing…

He tried to sit up for the second time, and this time he managed to stay upright… for a few seconds. It was an improvement.

Fifteen minutes and three tries later he managed to stay in a sitting position without either falling back down or feeling the need to puke his guts out. Really, he'd kill for a hangover potion. At school, all the boys in his dorms had always kept one on their night stand – despite the fact that they weren't allowed to drink… They were teens, they had had their sources.

Sighing in defeat, Draco shuffled so he could lean against the headboard, he was relatively sure he wouldn't be able to stand up – yet.  
The next time he went out drinking, he'd remember that he had no hangover potion and actually had to endure his hangover and he could easily understand why wizards brewed that potion: this was hell, no other word for it.

A knock on his door let the trolls and the hippogriff in his head compete in a battle. His vision swam. He squinted and then yelped in pain when whichever of his bastardly roommates opened the door to his room and let in the cruellest thing on earth – light.

"Sorry, mate. But there's something really weird on the doorstep… It's addressed to you."  
Draco supressed a whimper when Glen's voice – at least he thought it was Glen's voice – penetrated the peaceful silence in his room like a screaming staccato.

Weakly shielding his eyes with a hand he tried to find his voice. "Something… weird?" Was that his voice? Merlin, he sounded awful.  
"Yeah. An owl."  
Draco stood up abruptly. Well, he jumped into a standing position only to lose to vertigo once again and only Glen's quick reflexes saved him from landing straight on his nose.  
"An owl?" he asked weakly, trying to make sure he hadn't imagined that while desperately hoping he had.  
"Yeah. It's wrapped in a pink bow." That made him start in surprise. What in the… He groaned. Pink. A pink bow. Now that he thought about it, he thought he remembered meeting Blaise again… Damn. He must have agreed to getting an owl… he dimly remembered agreeing to _something_ after a longish argument with the guy he thought to be Blaise… He couldn't be sure, his recollection from last night was rather hazy.

But the fact that there apparently was an _owl_ in front of their door… He swallowed a sigh.  
"What kind of owl?"  
"How the f…" Glen cleared his throat. "How would I know. Some owl. I would have brought her, but I'd rather keep my fingers, thanks."  
Draco tried to supress a giggle which then turned into full-blown hysterical laughter.  
"Owowow." He cursed. Laughing hurt like hell…

Next thing he knew he was bent over the toilet and retching as if there was no tomorrow.

Ten minutes, two headache pills and a really strong coffee later Draco slowly made his way towards the door to take a look at his new owl. It was a beautiful young _athene noctua_ – a Little Owl. One of the owls that really existed in both worlds and didn't just resemble muggle owls.

"Hello there little one." The owl hooted softly and cocked its head. Concentrating very hard not to fall over, he slowly lowered himself in a kneeing position in front of the owl and carefully extended his hand to- Ouch. That had hurt! The owl had nipped his finger –hard.

He grabbed her anyway and slowly went back inside. He was still unable to do any fast movements. Sighing he sat at the kitchen table and removed the bow and took the letter. It took some squinting and staring at it in concentration, but he was able to read it.

_D,  
since you agreed to buy an owl last night, here she is. She has no name yet.  
I won't take her back, she's already paid for after all.  
BZ._

Damn. Well, at least he could now be sure that it had been Blaise. Now, how was he supposed to explain the owl… Oh, well, he'd been drunk. That would have to suffice as an explanation.

It did suffice. Glen laughed at him and the girls found it immensely funny as well, but they accepted his story without any questions, well, apart from one question. They wanted to know what the new resident was called.

Lynn wanted to call her Barmy but Cassie's suggestion won in the end. The owl was now called Aureola. She wasn't exactly golden but she certainly was beautiful.

Around four o'clock in the afternoon he started to feel human again. His new pet sat on the back of his chair for now, he'd have to buy her a perch … after the weekend.

* * *

Three days later Glen was still none the wiser. But Draco knew that wouldn't last forever. And it didn't.

"BLACK!" The angry scream ripped through the otherwise quiet house. Well, there went his peace. Sighing, Draco went to the kitchen where Glen was sitting, staring at his mobile phone and seething.

Deciding to jump right into purgatory, Draco smiled amusedly. "Took you long enough."  
For a second, Glen looked as if he was about to have a stroke, he splutter angrily then slumped. "I hate you, you know that, right?"  
"Yeah, love you, too." Draco rolled his eyes. "Grow up. It'll do you good to go there."  
Frowning Glen sighed. "Do me good… my ass."  
"Well, running away would only make you feel worse in the long run – no pun intended." He got a weak smile for that.  
"Maybe you're right. Ok, you _are_ right but that doesn't change the fact that the thought of actually going there scares me shitless."  
"I know… I'm not pretending to understand why, because I don't but I know that running away is not an option … not forever anyway." The last part was mumbled. He was painfully aware that he himself was running away in a way but he resolutely shoved the thought away. "I do understand the fear itself though, even if not the reasons behind it."

A short nod and a sigh were the only answer he got but he understood what Glen wanted to say anyway. He gave a reassuring smile. "You'll be fine."  
"You're coming with me." It wasn't a question. It wasn't even an order, it was just a statement of the truth. They both knew he would.

* * *

The next time he saw Charlie at work was rather embarrassing. She took one look at him and dissolved into laughter.  
And the evening didn't exactly improve. Every time she saw him she had a fit of giggles. Apparently he had really embarrassed himself that night.  
He heard her giggling about something that sounded suspiciously like "dancing in a table" and … oh.. Merlin! Had he really tried to propose to a toilet seat? He certainly hoped not.  
He went beet red and wondered if there was a spell so that the earth would open up and swallow him…. Merlin.

In the end, Charlie told him that they'd set him a limit on how much he'd be allowed to drink the next time.  
Which happened to be that evening only that this time they didn't go to a club, they went to her place for a drink and once they were there he somehow ended up helping her choosing a anniversary present for Mona.  
Apparently it was the least he could do after embarrassing them by association.  
By the time the evening was over, his clothes were blotted with red paint but he had to admit the bookshelf painted in red flames looked fabulous. And here he had thought that Mona was the creative one of the two.

* * *

**AN2: **There's that.  
TBC next week.  
(IF anyone didn't catch that: Aureola means 'beautifully golden' in latin - at least according to the dictionary o0)


	23. Ch22: Confrontations I

**AN:** Hello again. Today's chappie is still a bit on the short side, but I had to divide this and the next somewhere.

**Warnings: **Some violence...

* * *

Apparently the bookshelf had been a huge success thought Draco idly while he was nearly hugged to death by Mona for helping with it. His rips were really going to hurt, the woman literally had a bone-crushing grip… well, hug.

As a thank you the two women dragged him to the cinema to watch a really strange movie about vampires and werewolves. It was a good movie by itself, it was just strange to him because he knew what werewolves (and vampires) were like in real life. And one, they had nothing to do with some centennial being called Satan and two, the bite of a werewolf did not kill a vampire.  
He did like the main actress although, in a really inexplicable way, she reminded him of that mudblood Granger… He spent the next five minutes after that thought beating himself up about the 'mudblood' part that had just slipped in his thoughts.

And then things got really awkward a few days later, when they ran into Dean Thomas while he was grocery shopping with Glen and Lynn. It wasn't awkward that they'd run in Dean but the fact that he was accompanied by Finnigan… _that_ created some problems.

Dean only nodded towards them, as did Draco and Glen (after a warning look from both Draco and Dean when he was about to open his mouth to greet him) in return. Lynn was blissfully unaware so far and Finnigan… couldn't keep his mouth shut.

"Well, hello." He stretched the 'hello' and it sounded as if he was talking about a piece of really disgusting dirt. "What do we have here."  
Trying to avoid a scene, Draco stayed civil. "Hello Finnigan, Thomas." Dean gave him a shaky smile and greeted them as well after a short hesitational pause. "Draco." He gave him a short nod. "Glen, nice to meet you again."  
"Dean." Glen acknowledged him with a friendly if a bit strained smile. But the peace couldn't last.

"What the bloody…" mumbled Finnigan in surprise before he sneered. "Hello, racist."  
"Seamus!"  
"What? It's the truth, Dean. He's a friggin' racist an' you know it! He's been a DE' in training for years, he's been their poster boy, Merlin be damned! And I refuse to play nice with a monster like him – and I sure as hell will not be fooled by his 'regret'" that was sarcasm if Draco ever heard some and it hurt like hell even though he didn't really expect anything different which made it possible for him to endure it with his mask in place. "or any other shit the piece of crap will try to tell me! How can you even talk to him? I mean, are you suicidal? You should stay away from him. Not talk to him. Really! How can you be so.,, And you! Pretending to be good now that you people failed…. Daddy must be so proud."

SLAP.

The resounding slap left an imprint of a hand on Finnigan's cheek and all four of them stared at Glen whose eyes were on fire.  
"HOW DARE YOU?!" The guy was positively seething. He was even unnoticeably shaking in anger. "How dare you talk about him like that! You don't even _know_ him!"  
"Oh, shut up. You have no idea what you're talking about it! So stay out of it! Got it?" He set about another stream of insults but was stopped by Lynn quiet but firm voice.  
"I'd stop if I were you." Her voice was deadly cold. "I've never seen Glen that angry before."  
"And who the hell are you?"  
"Her name's Melinda." Draco had shaken himself out of shock.  
"well, then, Melinda, I'd stay away from him if I were you – unless you want to be killed in a very painful way."  
"Is that a threat?"  
"It's a warning because he's going to stab you in the back." He sneered.  
"Seamus! Stop it!" Dean grabbed his arm and spun him around.  
"What?" Finnigan stared at his friend unbelieving that Dean was trying to stop him. He suddenly jumped forward and pummeled Draco.  
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?" that screech hurt but not as much as his now broken nose.

Luckily for them, in his anger, Finnigan forgot that he was a wizard and only used his fists – not that it made getting beat up any better. It took the combined efforts of Dean and Glen to drag him away from Draco. Lynn gasped when she got a good look at Draco. The fact that he hadn't even tried to retaliate was painfully visible – There wasn't a piece of skin visible that wasn't beginning to bruise. And Finnigan didn't even have a scratch… apart from on his knuckles.

Quite a crowd had crowded around them but at least one of them had called an ambulance because Draco was starting to cough up blood now.

With the ambulance the police arrived as well and Finnigan got arrested when he tried to free him from the boys grip and attack Draco again.

* * *

At the hospital the doctors were very throughout – luckily for Draco because they rushed him into the OR for an emergency operation to do something about his internal bleeding,

The last thing Draco heard before he was rushed away was Dean telling the other to that he was going to make a phone call

Several hours later he woke up feeling like a imploded blast-ended skewt. Everything hurt. And he nearly got a heart attack on top of everything when he saw the assertion of people next to is hospital bed: Glen, Lynn and even Dean and Cassie weren't much of a surpise but what were Blaise and Potter doing here as well?

"Hey there beautiful." Blaise winked at him and the others stared at Blaise but Draco only rolled his eyes. That was just so… Blaise.  
"Hello yourself, weirdo." He winced at how rough his voice sounded only to wince again because wincing hurt. Apparently whatever painkillers they'd given him were wearing off.

"Man, if I weren't basically being on probation, I'd kill Finnigan for that." Blaise growled out.  
"Want me to help? Maybe not kill him but to teach him a lesson or something?"  
"Get in line, Harry."  
Both Slytherins were now gaping at the Gryffindors. They were offering to go after one of their own for the sake of a Slytherin?

"What?" Harry looked at him questionably. "You didn't deserve that."  
"But but but… He's a Gryffindor" spluttered Blaise in shock and Draco mumbled something about a hero complex.  
"So what? Those prejudices started the whole problem!"  
Blaise blinked at him owlishly. "wha… what?" He asked weakly.  
"The whole house prejudices business is rubbish. I mean come on, yeah there are some people that fit the prejudices but most of them don't! I mean, look at Snape. I've never met a man more honourable or more courageous! And Pettigrew was in Gryffindor for crying out loud!"  
Blaise cocked his head and stared at Potter, lost in thought.

The three muggles just watched on in bemusement. Well, the girls did, Glen nodded thoughtfully. Somehow, Draco got the feeling that Glen was too perceptive for his own good. Cassie as well, but she didn't know as much about him already. She hadn't been there when they'd met Dean at that bar.

Suddenly the door swung open and in walked the last person he would have expected but in retrospect he figured he should have known. Mme Pomfrey.  
"Well, Mister Potter, who's the patient you told me about. – Oh, dear." She bustled over to Draco's bedside and checked him over.  
Dean and Harry started talking by themselves which got them all to be thrown out of the room by an angry matron (Which Dean later said was what they intended so she could use magic to check him).

"What did you do Mister Malfoy?"  
"Black."  
"What?"  
"I… eh… I go by the name Draco Black in the muggle world… I trust you'll keep that confidential."  
"Of course." She sounded hurt that he'd even suggest otherwise. Not that it would make much of a difference now that Potter and Blaise knew – oh, and even worse, Finnigan knew. Wait. Did he? He wasn't sure. He wracked his brain trying to remember what the others had said.

"Well, that's nothing I can't fix. Let me do the paperwork to transfer you to another hospital, then I'll heal your inner wounds. I won't be able to do much about the bruises, because of the muggles you know. But I'll give you a potion for the pain – there are potion pills, so they won't become suspicious. But that's all I can do in this situation short of obliviating them – and I refuse to do _that_."  
Draco smiled at her then frowned. Smiling hurt. "Thank you Matron."  
"It's my job to look after the students. I know, you graduated. But it's the summer holidays after your last year – but we got off topic. WHAT DID YOU DO?!"  
"Greeted the wrong guy and his boyfriend flipped?" He lied meekly. Well, it was a white lie. Of sorts.  
She narrowed her eyes at him but let him off.

As soon as she left for the paperwork the others filed back into the room. Thankfully his fellow wizards buttonholed him into a conversation about some innocent incident back at school and he was able to avoid talking about his injuries.

Fifteen minutes later, Mme Pomfrey came back and discharged him to take him to 'her private clinic' and the others went home.  
For appearances sake he had to stay the night in a hotel and was allowed to go home in the morning.  
He was feeling perfectly fine but his roomies thought he'd needed special care or something… they fussed about him quite a bit. He wasn't allowed to carry anything heavy (he wasn't a pregnant woman for heaven's sake!), he wasn't allowed to do any gardening (so he ordered Lynn around to do it – admittedly that was quite fun, too), he wasn't allowed to cook (seriously? They were definitely exaggerating now!) and well, basically, he wasn't allowed to do anything – he spent the bigger part of the day talking to Myrtle and Aureola – because they didn't try to mother him.  
Glen had even called his work place last night to tell them he was at the hospital – which he was glad for – and also told them that he wouldn't come to work for at least a week (which was what the muggle doc had said) so now he couldn't even escape there. And he knew that it was highly improbable that Charlie and Mona would meet with him to go out, after Glen called his boss, as well.

Out of boredom, he started writing a cookbook. Well, more like a compilation of receipts and some general tips for cooking.

By the end of the week, he had a compilation of 315 receipts and 45 pages of cooking tips, all because he used his knowledge from potions and the instinct that his Godfather had taught him when it came to mixing ingredients. He hadn't even tried half of the receipts he wrote. Around a third, maybe, but no more. He'd have to rectify that – and luckily he had three willing guinea pigs… It was the least they could do for treating him like a freakin' invalid for a whole week when he was _fine_. Besides, he didn't have to tell them… after all, what the eye does not see, the heart does not grieve over.

And then his roommates killed the last bit of compassion he felt for them (when it came to them being his guinea pigs) when they forced him to invite his three wizard 'friends' for dinner.

* * *

**AN2:** See you next week.  
(If anyone wants to know why Harry & Blaise were there, that'll be explained over dinner. (hint: phonecall) )


	24. Ch 23: Invitations

**AN:** so, this would be that. Sorry I took so long but when I wanted to upload this the day before yesterday, I reread it first (thankfully) and realised, that no, I really couldn't upload this the way it was. I'm still not exactly happy with it, but my creativity is nil thanks to my cold. Anyway, this chap is really short because I had to split it. I'll upload the larger 2nd part of this chapter (which I split in two) later today or tomorrow. Even in it's 'raw' state it's twice as long as this part.

**Warnings:** ... the usual, I guess.

* * *

Luckily for his roommates, his garden had survived. There would have been hell to pay otherwise.

But that was the only good thought he had that morning for he was dreading the evening.

Apparently Potter had managed to knick his mobile phone number from Thomas (he was back to a last name basis because he was annoyed and no!, he was not acting childish. Really, he wasn't. He was a Slytherin.) which resulted in a cursing bout from Draco. Sadly, Glen witnessed this and, in turn, pressured Draco into inviting Potter over for dinner because he had been the one who got the 'specialist' on the case.

And when the girls caught wind of that, he was forced to invite Thomas and Blaise as well. Because they had been worried as well, besides "that Dean guy had called Blaise, and that one apparently informed the third guy." Lynn's exact words. Well, apart from the part about karma, he refused repeat that part.

And now he was a complete nervous wreck, even though he'd never admit it, because they would be here that evening. Three wizards in his muggle home. Now, who the hell thought that to be a good idea? It was a sure-fire way into disaster. On the other hand, two of them were basically muggleborns.

And he was … well, not scared, because even if he wasn't a Malfoy, Black's didn't do scared either!, but he felt a certain… let's call it nervousness as well because he didn't want to return. He didn't want to have any contact with the wizarding world.  
The burnt child dreads the fire.

And even though all three had given them their word that they would tell _no one_ where he lived or that they'd met him – apart from Thomas, he could hardly deny meeting him during the 'Finnigan catastrophe' as he had called it – and he believed them, but…

How could he be sure that Potter wouldn't be followed? That someone else would, well, see something…? What if they said something wrong? What if someone accidentally used magic? Merlin, what if Blaise messed up the dressing up part. What had he worn at the hospital again? To his horror, he couldn't remember – he hadn't paid any attention to it in the first place.

…But then again, he couldn't remember Blaise looking out-of-place in that muggle club… then again, he'd been drunk.

Desperately hoping that they wouldn't be there he reread the texts they exchanged.

~How are you holding up, Black? (It's Black now, right? Dean said something about that when I cornered him into giving me your number cause Poppy asked if you needed any other pills) So, do you? HP~

He had been pissed when he realised that Dean had given Potter his mobile number – hence the setback to a last name basis:

~Thomas, why the hell did you give Potter my number?~

~Sorry, about that, Draco, but he held me at… 'gunpoint' so to speak, when I refused to give him my mobile phone… 'sides, didn't he only want to refer a question from Pomfrey? At least, that's what he said AFTER he knicked your number.~

He had only snorted and decided to ignore Thomas – and he did, until the girls made him invite him, not that there was anything to ignore. Thomas hadn't texted again since there was no reason for either of them to do so.

Instead he had grudgingly sent a reply to Potter.

~I'm fine. She did her job. No need for any other pills.~

~Glad to hear that.~

He had thought that was it but a couple of days later, another text came.

~Spoke to Poppy just now, if anything goes wrong or so, text me, I'll reroute the information to her.~

He had been about to hack another text into his phone keyboard when Glen had suddenly asked him. "What did your phone ever do to you?" And he had accidentally let slip that Potter got his number.

Half an hour later he had sent Potter a text to invite him over for dinner but only because Glen talked his ears off.

~I'd like to invite you over for dinner as a thank-you, if you'd like…~

And Potter had agreed because apparently he thought it was easier for him to spend the evening at their place then to try to explain why he wouldn't come.

~your roommates put you up to this, didn't they?"

~Glen kind of forced me to invite you.~ (Part of him couldn't believe that he had admitted to a muggle forcing him to do anything.

~Alright. I guess, I'll have to accept then. Explaining why I'd refused would probably be more problematic than me actually spending an evening at your place. 'Sides, it can only be an improvement compared to last time. ;-)~

Draco figured that the last weird combination of syntax was supposed to be a wink. At least he recalled Lynn mentioning something called 'smileys' when she had given him that crash-course.

And then they forced him to invite the other two as well… Right now, Draco loathed his roommates.

Glen had tried to make him tell the girls about their dinner guest, and when Draco didn't cooperate, he told them instead.  
And then, Cassie had asked, if it wouldn't be a good idea to invite the other two, too, since they helped as well.

So he had been hard pressed to ignore his resolution to ignore Thomas and sent him the same text he had sent Potter, except that he added that it was his roommates' idea.

And then he went about drawing up a letter to Blaise.  
Aureola's first job. The bird was thrilled and nearly drove him crazy, because she didn't stop flying about his head when he mentioned that he was going to write a letter for her to deliver.  
He was glad when the letter was finished and he could sent her off with it.  
If the letter sounded rather clipped, it was the damn owl's fault.

Needless to say, both had agreed to come as well.

Sighing in frustration about the impending dinner, he had a bout of rebelliousness and decided to cook one of his experimental receipts.  
It didn't even smell bad. He refused to taste it anyways, he would let his 'guests' do the tasting and only eat it himself if they survived.

He sniggered. Okay, so his dinner wasn't a potion and it wasn't deadly either. But he liked the thought that his roomies had to risk their lives as a retaliation of sorts – he liked it as a joke, he wouldn't consider such a thing for real. Katie Bell had been bad enough.

* * *

**AN2:** Like I said, I'll upload the next part later today or tomorrow because it still needs some work. And I didn't want to make you wait any longer, not that this chappie is much but, let's ignore that fact till tomorrow, okay? ;)  
Thx for reading


	25. Ch24: Guests & Dinner

**AN:** Well, here's the second part.  
Being sick really isn't helpful when it comes to writing... I tried to make the best out of it, but I'm not really happy how this chapter turned out to be. Anyway.  
Have fun reading.

Oh, before I forget, there seemed to be some confusion about something in the chapter before last.  
OR means operating room.  
And the ambulance brought him to a muggle hospital and Mme Pomfrey visited that muggle hospital after Harry contacted her. She then made sure to arrange that Draco would be transferred into her care.  
I hope that clears it up.

**Warnings:** a few swear words if I remember correctly. And mentioning of murder...

* * *

Once again, the other three were banned from the kitchen and only allowed to set the table. He just hoped they wouldn't destroy the living room again.

At five in the evening sharp, Draco heard three telling pops of apparition. They were pretty quiet but his time at Malfoy Manor during it's time as a Death Eater HQ honed his ears to recognize the sound from a mile away.

A short few minutes later, the first knock resounded on their door. He heard someone go and open the door and judging from the loud greeting he would bet anything that it had been Lynn.

The other two visitors weren't long in the coming. And soon Draco couldn't stall any longer and left his safe haven also known as 'kitchen'.

Dreading his fate he approached the group in the hall. Before he could greet anyone he was engulfed in a hug by Blaise who then kissed him on the cheek as well – business as usual. It was the first time their fellow wizards had seen that particular greeting though and they seemed a little dumbstruck by it. But they got over it pretty fast and the proper (and awkward) greetings were exchanged:

"Hello Beautiful."  
"Hello, weirdo. Potter. Dean." He nodded toward each of them.  
"Draco."  
"Draco. Call me Harry. You invited me for dinner… and 'Potter' is getting a bit old."  
"Harry then." He frowned. It was weird calling his ex-arch-whatever… enemy?, Rival?, anyway it was strange to call him by his first name.  
"Oh, I brought some pumpkin juice. I figured you might miss it." Potter, no, Harry shrugged.  
"Pumpkin juice? Seriously? There's pumpkin juice?" Lynn seemed incredulous.  
All three of them nodded. "Yeah. The cooks at our school always made some. I've never seen it anywhere else, though." It was a white lie.  
Amused, Draco sent them into the living room to go to the kitchen himself.

A few moments later he (and Cassie) brought the food to the table.  
His choice of dishes brought a few raised eyebrows but soon everyone dug in. Draco was surprised how good it actually tasted. It left room for improvement, yes, but it was better than what he had expected for his first try at an own receipt.

Still, there was a rather awkward silence until Lynn started gushing about the food which sent both Blaise and Dean into a fit of supressed laughter and Harry just shook his head.  
"What's so funny Blaise?" Draco felt miffed.  
"Oh, come on. Just think. Imagine the face Weasley would make if he had heard that."  
Harry nearly fell off the stool because he had to laugh that hard.  
"Merlin, he'd accuse you of poisoning her and send her to a hospital… or he'd sent her to a psychologist because she's insane. Probably the second."  
"Or both." Added Dean and Blaise nodded.  
"A little over a year ago, you would've all thought that."  
Dean had the grace to look guiltily ashamed but Harry shook his head.  
"No. I wouldn't have. Okay, maybe that she must be crazy – no offence… Melinda, right? – but not that you'd have poisoned her. Not after the 30th of June in our sixth year." The last sentence was almost impossible to hear but Draco caught it anyway.  
He blanched completely. "What?" He stared at him in shock. When he found his voice again enough to whisper he asked weakly "How… how do you know about that?"  
Harry smiled softly. "I was there. At the tower." He'd been there? How? But he hadn't seen… The cloak. The invisibility cloak. He had always suspected Potter had one. Now he was pretty sure.

A warm hand on his arm snapped him back to the now. Was there an earthquake… No, it was him that was shaking.  
He looked up and met Potter's steady gaze.  
"I'm sorry, Draco. I shouldn't have mentioned that night." He sounded apologetic and… guilty? Why did Potter feel guilty? He stared at him, completely incredulous.

"It wasn't your fault." Potter said softly. Not his fault? What wasn't his fault? What had they been talking about, again? Potter said something about 'that night'. What night?  
Suddenly, he felt sick and bolted for the bathroom.  
Dimly he heard Potter tell the others to continue to eat and that he'd look after him but the meaning of the words didn't register in his brain.

_He stared at the corpse before his feet then towards his godfather. What had just happened? He had been fighting against the curse, more desperately than ever. He had almost broken it – he had managed to lower his wand! – and now… it was for nothing. All his fights, all his deliberate misses for naught. And the old man had begged his godfath… had begged _Snape_ only to be destroyed. How could Snape betray him like that? Snape's teaching had been the only reason he'd seen reason and decided against joining.  
Had it all been a lie?_

_He remembered spouting nonsense, playing the little loyal Death Eater till the end. He didn't know if it had been because of the curse or if his stupid pride had forced him to play along. Most likely he'd just played along, trying to stall. Desperately hoping that someone would save him from doing what he would be forced to do. _

_He remembered how he'd finally broken and shouted the truth. Part of the truth. He had no choice. He'd have to do it. He had no choice._

_Dumbledore had offered him a deal. He had offered him protection if he joined the right side. He said that he wouldn't. Little did the old man know that he couldn't. He could change sides as much as he could throw off the network of imperious and other spells that had numbed his mind; that helped suppress his will and turn into a compliant little puppet. _

_Fenrir Greyback. The utter dread he felt when he learnt he had let that monster into the school. _

_The pleading "Severus" that shook him to his core. Dumbledore falling, before his brain even registered the curse. The pleading two words resounding in his head, over and over again. _

_Being grabbed by that… murderer… and dragged out the door, down the tower. Told to run away when an enraged Potter caught up to them…. _

Wait, what? How had he known? Why did he follow them? Why Snape? How had he known to follow Snape?

"Because I saw him utter the curse. And I saw you lower your wand." Potter answered him from where he stood in the door. "Are you okay?"

He shrugged. "Define okay. I'll live."  
A short nod. "Good. You coming back to dinner?"  
He snorted. "Merlin, that sounds domestic." That cracked them both and they burst in a small bout of laughter – and if Draco's laughter had a hysteric tinge to it (which it had) Potter didn't comment on it.

Draco rinsed his mouth and they returned for the living room. They both sat back down and Blaise, surprisingly thoughtful, started to inform Draco of the newest gossip. And Dean jumped right in.

"By the way, Draco, did you know that Greengrass is engaged? To a cousin of Davies apparently. And her younger sister, you know, the one, who was once considered your potential bride? She's being courted by Nott's Uncle's sister-in-law's son. Saw him once, he's a total nutter. He tried to woo her with poisonous flowers. She was in the hospital for three weeks after that. And that troll of a sixth year, you know who I mean? He's made headlines."  
"Ah, the guy, who decided to become Minister but had the I.Q. of a vegetable?"  
"Exactly."  
"I think I know which you mean… but how did he make headlines?"

"Well… basically… he said that the … last few years were a conspiracy by the m… by Fudge and his colleagues to get more power." Blaise started to say ministry but stopped when he caught sight of Cassie who set opposite him.  
"Sure… That's why they nearly completely ruined their credibility?" Don't you just love sarcasm? Inwardly Draco shook his head at the idiocy.  
"Well, why do you think that statement made headlines, Draco?"

"And you know, that actually started a few conspiracy theories…" Dean added. "I quite liked the one where Fudge was actually the mistress of …." Suddenly he stopped talking and went red.  
Frowning Draco looked from him to the other two when it hit him. "No. Way."  
Suddenly all three grinned at him. "Yes way."  
"Merlin, they thought he was Lucius' Mistress?" He snorted. "Merlin's beard. I'd really like to play mouse if Lucius ever finds out about that particular theory."  
Blaise grinned. "And I would have loved to see Fudge's face when he found out about the _mistress_ part. Not lover, but mistress."  
"You, know, Zabini, that thought is just…. _Disgusting_. Fudge as a woman…" Harry shuddered.  
"Doesn't fit."  
"Poppy wrote an – anonymous – letter to the prophet how it was physically impossible and insulting to all women – except Lestrange."  
"WHAT? Pomfrey wrote that? That article was brilliant. ... She didn't faze me as an badmouthing person, though."  
"Yeah, well, apparently her letter had been full of errors and they had to fix it up… You can imagine how she reacted to that."  
"So nothing changed on that end, huh."  
"No, but you knew that… Speaking of the prophet." Potter... Harry adopted a miserable face and turned to Draco. "You left me heartbroken."  
"What?" Draco stared at him (and didn't realise that the other two wizards could barely conceal their oncoming laughter).  
"Yes. How could you just leave like that? And why?" He fake-sniffled but Draco was too shocked to register that at the moment. Had hell frozen over or something? "Do you have any idea how I felt" Harry paused for dramatics and then changed back to his normal voice. "when I had to find out that you broke my heart through the prophet?" He winked at him, and Dean couldn't hold his laughter anymore. And that then set Blaise off.  
"Wha…" Draco stared at him. "What? Now, wait a minute! I thought I was the one who was interested in you…"  
"It's the prophet, Draco. They can't keep their 'facts' straight – not even if their life depended on it." He had to give it to Blaise.  
"How could I have forgotten."

Harry grinned. "Luna even wrote me a letter how they should probably check their offices for bubbertlacks, apparently these things addle with one's brain and confuse the impression of reality."  
"Luna?"  
"Luna Lovegood."  
"Ah, Loony Lo-" If looks could kill, Blaise would have died that instant. Draco really didn't want to be on the receiving end of those two killing gazes.

So he just grinned and took the empty plates to the kitchen to bring the main course.

"- into Blaise. Or rather he ran into me. And he was babbling something about a dying Draco when he nearly ran me over, so I followed him. When we arrived at the hospital and heard you talking about what happened and that they took him straight to the operation room, I figured I'd turn around and get Poppy on his case." Harry shrugged. "And then I returned to the hospital. I was quite surprised to find you there, Dean. And even more to find out it'd been Seamus." Harry shook his head sadly. "I would have expected better but…"  
"Mhm. I deserved it. – No, not for the reason he did it for, but probably for a lot of other things. I wasn't exactly nice to many people during school… Granger for example. Or Weasley – although I refuse to apologize to him. He was an ass just the same."  
Dean snorted. "He was quite good at that from time to time."  
"Oy, that's my best friend you're talking about."  
"Yeah, but Potter, remember fourth year." Harry frowned at Blaise.  
"Point taken. Still."  
Draco acknowledged his request to change the topic.  
"Well, this time, I guess, I won't ask after your Boyfriend, Dean." Draco joked and was about to say something else when Glen interrupted.  
"Wait! That was him?"  
"Yeah, that was 'him'. And he's not my boyfriend. Currently I'm single, thank you very much." He grinned. "'Sides, my ex is apparently happily engaged to another."  
Both Blaise' and Draco's heads whipped towards Potter. "Engaged?"  
"According to the prophet." Harry said calmly between two bites.  
"Ah."  
"Yeah. I'm not going to even think about popping that question until I'm at least twenty."  
"That's a year from now." Stated Blaise.  
"That's why I said 'at least'."  
"So you are thinking about it." Lynn cocked her head at him.  
"Not really. The thought only came when I read that announcement. We're not exactly like Molly and Arthur."  
"Oh Merlin, just think of the ramifications. Seven little Potheads…" Blaise fake-sneered. And Draco marvelled at the fact that despite their past, they managed to hold a civil, no, friendly conversation… like old friends or acquaintances. Although all in all, they were old acquaintances, he wouldn't have thought it possible.

"Molly and Arthur?" Lynn asked.  
"Gin's parents."  
"Gin?"  
"His girlfriend."  
"Ginny Weasley."  
"Weasley… WEasly… Somehow that rings a bell." Draco prayed to whoever was listening that Glen would not remem—"Ah, that. 'Weaslette' , right." No such luck.  
"Well…"  
"Ferret."  
"Would you cut it out!"  
"Not a chance."  
"Your own fault."  
"Blaise! You backstabber!"  
Draco almost believed Blaise' innocent look. Almost. The girls dissolved in giggles.  
"By the way, how's Myrtle?"  
"The moaning Myrtle?" Both Dean and Blaise stared at Harry and Draco groaned inwardly.  
"The what?" Lynn stared at them. "ISn't that the name of his snake?"  
"Yeah… but he told me he named her after a ghost story in his old school… The moaning Myrtle sounds pretty much like it's the title to said story." Glen half-stated-half-asked.

Whose idea had it been again to bring this particular group of people together? Couldn't someone come out and avada kedavra him? It would be easier that way. Right now he felt like he was about to die of mortification.

Harry only nodded, Blaise acted as if that particular conversation didn't concern him and Dean stared at Draco, seemingly shell-shocked.  
"What? You named your pet after… Myrtle? The Myrtle? That annoying, bath-flooding quasi-poltergeist? Merlin. I'm never going to understand you."  
"It's not that hard to understand, I think."  
"Yeah, thanks for your input." Draco sounded scathing to his own ears, this conversation made him distinctly uncomfortable.  
"So, where is she?"  
"My room." He was positively sneering.  
"That was cold."  
"Shut it, Glen!"

Glen made an innocent face when it suddenly hit him (apparently). "Wait a minute! Is _he_ the guy who can talk to snakes?"  
All four wizards groaned in unison. And Draco got three glares. One exasperated, one annoyed and one angry glare.  
And then, to top it off, naturally, Lynn piped up. "Really? You can talk to snakes? Show us. Pleeeeaaaaase?" She made puppy dog eyes and Draco dimly wondered if she wasn't too old for such antics… 'But then again, talking about Lynn here…'

Sighing he got up and went to fetch Myrtle.  
When he came back Potter was in the middle of a fake explanation why he could talk to snakes… something about imitating sounds and a snake someone from his school owned. And somehow, Draco didn't get the impression that he was talking about a basilisk… it sounded more like primary school.

As soon as Myrtle laid eyes on Potter she hissed. And he hissed something back which made both Slytherins shiver – and not in a good way. Draco had to fight the urge to bolt. Even Dean seemed distinctly uncomfortable for a moment, but then they all schooled their faces to masks of neutrality.

And those two hissed away.

"This is sooo cool!" Lynn, who else? Draco groaned inwardly. Somehow he got the feeling that it wasn't the last time that particular wizard would be over for dinner.

And it got worse. Lynn was completely starstruck when she got Potter to translate a question – and Myrtle actually nodded. Traitorous snake.

Cassie just watched on with a thoughtful expression. (Glen later said that he would bet anything that she had thought right then that she'd loved to introduce Harry and her brother, why, he didn't elaborate.)

Apparently Myrtle liked the colour of Lynn's shirt (a deep lilac colour) because it felt "calm" to her. At least that was what Potter said after he had translated Lynn's question if she could see colours. Myrtle only categorized colours in "calm", "nice", "creepy", "tasty" and one other thing Potter said he couldn't translate but to him it had sounded like "bluyong". No idea what that meant though. "Tasty" colours reminded Myrtle of certain foods.

But to their surprise her distinction in calm, nice, creepy, tasty and bluyong didn't coincide with human distinctions of blue, red, green etc. It didn't even coincide with dark and light colours, it seemed completely random to them.

Apparently Myrtle liked chocolate frogs – not for dinner but she found them… well, funny. She didn't really like mice, not even for dinner. They stank of cinnamon according to her. And she didn't like cinnamon. She did like the taste of the scent of mocha though. But she only liked that scent of mocha in Hogwarts, the scent here didn't compare. It wasn't bad but it wasn't good either. But that whole part – because of it magical aspect – Harry kept it to himself and only told that to Draco later on.

They only remembered about dinner when Cassie went to the toilet and upon coming back, mentioned to Draco that there still seemed to be some food – probably dessert – in the kitchen.

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**AN2: **I'll try to upload the next chapter on Monday.  
Thx for reading.


	26. Interlude II

**AN: **I'm really sorry it took so long, but I was sick, then there was christmas, my grandmas birthday, new years eve... I haven't even touched a computer in over a week ö.O And by the time I had time to write I had lost my train of thought... Which resulted in me starting this chapter over because I couldn't continue with what I had already written for chap 25... And then I had to start anew because it didn't work out... and anew... And then I had enough and decided to write a second Interlude (it's basically chap 24 from another POV.) to assure you that I'm still here and still writing. Damn writer's block.  
It's far from perfect, but... I hope you'll enjoy it anyway.

While I do now how I want this story to continue, I have a little problem with how to get there. The transition from this point to the next part proves to be difficult.

On another note, I'm sorry to say that for the next few weeks, I won't be able to upload every week because of the upcoming exams... (don't you jsut hate university? -_-) I'll try to update once every two weeks.

**Warnings:**erm. Not sure, well, it's unbeta-ed. And then, maybe I shoudl say that Lynn surprised me in this chapter but this is how she turned out to be during the writing process.

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The greetings went kind of awkward – at least in Lynn's opinion – because while they knew each other's names, they didn't really know each other.  
Not that Draco's greetings with their guests were any less awkward.  
"Hello Beautiful." Glen rolled his eyes at that. 'Really?' He shook his head inwardly – but then again it fit with what Draco had told him about the guy.  
"Hello, weirdo. Potter. Dean." Weeell, that was short. Somehow they didn't seem like friends at all right there.  
"Draco."  
"Draco. Call me Harry. You invited me for dinner… and 'Potter' is getting a bit old."  
"Harry then."  
Suppressing a sigh, Cassie set about to invite them into the living room only to be interrupted before she managed to get a word out.  
"Oh, I brought some pumpkin juice. I figured you might miss it."  
"Pumpkin juice? Seriously? There's pumpkin juice?" Lynn asked in surprise. Well, why not, there was stuff like guava juice, tomato juice, pineapple juice and even icky stuff like cranberry juice, but pumpkin juice? Never heard of that before… then again, maybe she shouldn't be surprised.  
"Yeah. The cooks at our school always made some. I've never seen it anywhere else, though."

Draco sent them all to the living room, but Cassie refused to go and went into the kitchen to help him –against his orders. At least, to her, it sounded like he was _ordering_ her to leave it and join the others.

The food looked a bit strange… well, not strange but unfamiliar. But it tasted like … heaven. At least in Lynn's opinion with which she didn't hold back. She was pretty vocal with it actually and kind of annoyed Cassiopeia though she ignored said annoyance.  
Her tirade was interrupted when one of the guests, Cassie thought his name was Zab-something, started laughing.  
"What's so funny Blaise?" Draco sounded miffed.  
"Oh, come on. Just think. Imagine the face Weasley would make if he had heard that." That set off their other two guest and even Draco chuckled at that.  
"Merlin, he'd accuse you of poisoning her and send her to a hospital… or he'd sent her to a psychologist because she's insane. Probably the second." Harry, she thought his name was, answered.  
"Or both." Added Dean and Blaise nodded.  
"A little over a year ago, you would've all thought that." To Cassie's surprise Dean seemed guiltily ashamed, but Harry shook his head.  
"No. I wouldn't have. Okay, maybe that she must be crazy – no offence… Melinda, right? – but not that you'd have poisoned her."  
Neither Glen nor Lynn or Cassie understood the last part that was mumbled but it must have had quite the significance – Draco blanched.  
"What? How… how do you know about that?" Lynn blinked in surprise at hearing his voice waver like that.  
Harry smiled softly. "I was there. At the tower."  
It seemed to mean something of importance because Draco blanched even more and the heads of the other two whipped around.  
"I'm sorry, Draco. I shouldn't have mentioned that night." Lynn was about to make a joke about how that sounded – to dissolve the tension in the air – but hesitated because it seemed somehow significant and then the guy continued talking "It wasn't your fault." Harry said softly and all three muggles looked from one to the other in confusion. What wasn't Draco's fau—Cassie blinked in surprise when Draco suddenly fled the room and both Glen and… Blaise?, motioned to follow him but Harry told them he'd handle it and followed Draco.

A short but tense silence followed but then Glen told them to mind Harry's words and that they should continue to eat and leave them alone because it was none of their business.  
Sometimes he was more perceptive than Cassie gave him credit for normally. Too bad he was gay.

When they returned maybe five minutes later, it was obvious that neither of them wanted to touch upon what just happened and Blaise started a, well, what Cassie would call an update on the rumour mill.

"By the way, Draco, did you know that Greengrass is engaged? To a cousin of Davies apparently. And her younger sister, you know, the one, who was once considered your potential bride?" Draco had had a potential bride? Somehow phrased like that it didn't sound like a normal fiancé, mor e like an arranged marriage…. Which would probably be possible if his parents had really been as conservative as he said.  
"She's being courted by Nott's Uncle's sister-in-law's son." Wow. Now that sounded almost medieval. What did it matter if she whoever she was, was being courted by someone's uncle sister-in-law's whatever.  
" Saw him once, he's a total nutter. He tried to woo her with poisonous flowers. She was in the hospital for three weeks after that." Cassie stared at them in shock. And Lynn was about to launch an armada of questions but was cut off before she could ask.  
"And that troll of a sixth year, you know who I mean? He's made headlines."  
"Ah, the guy, who decided to become Minister but had the I.Q. of a vegetable?"  
"Exactly."  
"I think I know which you mean… but how did he make headlines?"  
"Well… basically… he said that the … last few years were a conspiracy by the m… by Fudge and his colleagues to get more power." Lynn may have been oblivious to the near-miss but Cassie and Glen both noticed that Blaise had started to say something else before he caught himself. And considering that that 'troll' (wasn't it more common to call people an oaf and not a troll?) apparently wanted to become minister, and she was guessing that 'minister' actually meant prime minister, and that that m-something word was either 'minister' or 'ministry'… Only that the rest of the sentence made no sense in relation to that. If they were correct then that would most likely make this 'Fudge' guy the minister… which he wasn't last time they checked. Cassie shrugged the thought off, she'd worry about it later, but Glen wondered if that m-word had been their equivalent of a pope or something the like.  
"Sure… That's why they nearly completely ruined their credibility?" Well, that's what conspiracy theories were like. Well, some of them anyway. Lynn would probably have a lot of fun with that.  
"Well, why do you think that statement made headlines, Draco?" Yes, headlines and then it was most likely swept under the carpet. Wait. What headlines?

"And you know, that actually started a few conspiracy theories…" Dean added. "I quite liked the one where Fudge was actually the mistress of …." …." Suddenly he stopped talking and went red.  
Frowning Draco looked from him to the other two when apparently he figured out what he had been about to say. "No. Way."  
The three grinned at him. "Yes way."  
"Merlin, they thought he was Lucius' Mistress?" Wait. What?  
. "Merlin's beard. I'd really like to play mouse if Lucius ever finds out about that particular theory." Wasn't 'Lucius' the name of Draco's father? Once again, Lynn didn't seem to catch the significance but the other two muggles did.  
Blaise grinned. "And I would have loved to see Fudge's face when he found out about the _mistress_ part. Not lover, but mistress."  
"You, know, Zabini, that thought is just…. _Disgusting_. Fudge as a woman…" Harry shuddered.  
"Doesn't fit." While Dean nodded and Blaise cocked his head in agreement, Cassie got the feeling she was missing something.

"Poppy wrote an – anonymous – letter to the prophet how it was physically impossible and insulting to all women – except Lestrange." The prophet? Who or what was Poppy? And why was this Lestrange the only woman to whom it wasn't insult?  
Glen on the other hand narrowed his eyes when he saw Draco's face. He got the same look on his face when this Lestrange person was mentioned he had worn while talking about this Bella his boss reminded him of. He gave an involuntary shudder. That woman seriously couldn't be good news. But he was shocked out of his thoughts when Dean suddenly shouted.  
"WHAT?" Blinking away his deer-in-the-headlights-look, Dean continued at a normal volume: "Poppy wrote that? That article was brilliant. ... She didn't faze me as an badmouthing person, though."  
"Yeah, well, apparently her letter had been full of errors and they had to fix it up… You can imagine how she reacted to that."  
"So nothing changed on that end, huh." Draco shook his head. What was this 'prophet' they were all talking about? It must've been a newspaper, but neither of them had ever heard of it. Maybe it was a newspaper solely for their … well, 'cult', for lack of a better word?  
"No, but you knew that… Speaking of the prophet." Harry suddenly looked miserable as he gazed (longingly? Lynn alarms went off. Something good was about to happen she just knew it!) "You left me heartbroken." Lynn cocked her head and her gaze jumped from Harry to Draco.  
"What?" Well, wasn't his face priceless.

"Yes. How could you just leave like that? And why?" He sniffled but Lynn got the feeling he was faking it. But he was good, she had to give him that. "Do you have any idea how I felt" Harry paused dramatically and Lynn amusedly realised that she had been wrong. Draco's face hadn't been priceless before – but it was now. And then Harry changed back to his normal voice. "when I had to find out that you broke my heart through the prophet?" He winked at Draco, which set Dean off and his laughter then set Blaise off. And Draco's face was still priceless especially as he seemed to process that he'd been had.  
"Wha…" Draco stared at him. "What? Now, wait a minute! I thought I was the one who was interested in you…" Huh? Hadn't Glen said the guy was as straight as they come? – And Draco had basically said so himself – but now he admitted to having been interested in this Harry – a guy.  
"It's the prophet, Draco. They can't keep their 'facts' straight – not even if their life depended on it." Blaise rolled his eyes. Ah. So it was just some false rumour they were… quoting?  
"How could I have forgotten."

"Luna even wrote me a letter how they should probably check their offices for bubbertlacks, apparently these things addle with one's brain and confuse the impression of reality."  
"Luna?"  
"Luna Lovegood."  
"Ah, Loony Lo-" The temperature dropped quite a few degree's and all three of them prayed never to be on the receiving end of those death glare's. Creepy, especially since they gave off the vibe that they could actually follow through. On the other hand, that nickname probably explained these 'bubbertlacks' … too bad. Lynn had been looking forward to a new conspiracy theory… But hey, maybe she'd be able to find something out about these things, whatever they are. She wasn't stupid, she knew they didn't exist, but conspiracy theories and the thought of fantastical creatures were fun. Her favourite hobby actually.

When Draco left for the kitchen, Lynn used the time to ask how they all ended up in the hospital… Well, mainly Blaise and Harry, she knew how Dean got there after all.  
It was Harry that answered her.  
"Well, I was actually out … grocery shopping." He grimaced and it made Lynn wonder why he'd hesitated before he said 'grocery shopping'. "Anyway, I just exited a shop when I ran into Blaise. Or rather he ran into me. And he was babbling something about a dying Draco when he nearly ran me over, so I followed him. When we arrived at the hospital and heard you talking about what happened and that they took him straight to the operation room, I figured I'd turn around and get Poppy on his case." Harry shrugged. Yeah but why? Cassie hadn't understood that at the hospital and she didn't understand it now. They had already been at the hospital. So why bring another doctor in on the case? Especially a school nurse from what she could gather. She meant no offense, but what good was a _school nurse_ in a life-and-death situation?  
"And then I returned to the hospital. I was quite surprised to find you there, Dean. And even more to find out it'd been Seamus. I would have expected better but…" She could understand the latter part, well, the middle part, really, but why wouldn't he have expected Dean? Weren't they (Draco and Dean) friends? And what did he mean, he'd expected better? That he hadn't expected that, period, she would have understood, but somehow, once again it felt like she was missing something, and she wondered what it was.

"Mhm. I deserved it." What? Startled that he was suddenly back and talking, all three, no actually, all six of them, to Glen's immense surprise, opened their mouths to disagree with Draco, but he cut them off. "No, not for the reason he did it for, but probably for a lot of other things. I wasn't exactly nice to many people during school… Granger for example. Or Weasley – although I refuse to apologize to him. He was an ass just the same."  
Dean snorted. "He was quite good at that from time to time."  
"Oy, that's my best friend you're talking about."  
"Yeah, but Potter, remember fourth year."  
"Alright. Point taken. Still." Glen frowned. Somehow this conversation stuck him as odd. But then again… Many things they'd said did. In the meantime Cassie wondered if this Weasley person was the 'Weasel' Draco had been talking about once.  
"Well, this time, I guess, I won't ask after your Boyfriend, Dean." Draco joked and was seemingly about to say something else when it suddenly hit Glen.  
"Wait! That was him?"  
"Yeah, that was 'him'. And he's not my boyfriend. Currently I'm single, thank you very much." Was it just Glen, or was Dean glowering at Draco? "'Sides, my ex is apparently happily engaged to another."  
"Engaged?" Bemused, Glen watched on as all their heads whipped towards Harry.  
"According to the prophet." Harry said calmly between two bites.  
"Oh." Wow. They or rather their surprise had deflated quickly.  
"Yeah. I'm not going to even think about popping that question until I'm at least twenty."  
"That's a year from now." Stated Blaise.  
"That's why I said 'at least'."  
Aha. "So you are thinking about it." Lynn cocked her head at him in a presumably innocent fashion – well at least, in her experience, people thought it to be that. Needless to say, it wasn't. Most of the time she was after something and trying to make a point.  
"Not really. The thought only came when I read that announcement. We're not exactly like Molly and Arthur."  
"Oh Merlin, just think of the ramifications. Seven little Potheads…" Blaise sneered. Woah. Glen blinked in surprise. It was hard to keep up with this guy's moods in a conversation… Their relationships with each other must be pretty complex.  
"Molly and Arthur?" Lynn asked and then cursed herself. Damn, she's let the chance to poke slip away. Oh well, it wasn't any of her business anyway not that that had ever stopped her before. Shrugging inwardly she turned  
"Gin's parents."  
"Gin?"  
"His girlfriend." Made sense, since they'd been talking about him proposing… or more like talking about him not proposing.  
"Ginny Weasley."  
"Weasley… WEasly… Somehow that rings a bell." To Cassie Glen seemed thoughtful – and Draco seemed uncomfortable.

He was sure he knew that name – and not just because it was mentioned earlier. He had heard it bef- "Ah, that. 'Weaslette' , right?"  
"Well…" Amused, Lynn watched Draco seemingly trying to squirm out of that one, but no luck.  
"Ferret." Again with the ferret. It was an interesting nickname and Glen would really like to ask for the story behind it, but somehow he got the feeling that he shouldn't ask because Draco wouldn't be able to answer. Because Glen was sure it had something to do with their not-a-cult-cult. At least it was a cult in the way that Draco seemed restricted in talking about it. As if he wasn't allowed to…

"Would you cut it out!" Draco's angry voice startled Glen's out of his train of thought. Well, maybe he shouldn't ask just for the reason that it'd annoy Draco.  
"Not a chance."  
"Your own fault."  
"Blaise! You backstabber!" Lynn suppressed a chuckle at Dray's outburst.

"By the way, how's Myrtle?" Okay, that was random. Cassie frowned.  
"The moaning Myrtle?" Dean sounded dumbfounded.  
"The what?" Lynn stared at them. What about Myrtle? "Isn't that the name of his snake?"  
"Yeah." Glen nodded and narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "But… he told me he named her after a ghost story in his old school… 'The moaning Myrtle' sounds pretty much like it's the title of a ghost story." He wasn't sure himself if he was stating or asking that.  
"What? You named your pet after… Myrtle? The Myrtle? That annoying, bath-flooding quasi-poltergeist? Merlin. I'm never going to understand you." To Glen's ears, Dean sounded as if he thought that hell had just frozen over.  
"It's not that hard to understand, I think."  
"Yeah, thanks for your input." Woah, why was Draco suddenly pissed at Harry? Lynn lifted a brow. Men.  
"So, where is she?"  
"My room." That sentence rang with a sense of finality. That was cold.  
"Shut it, Glen!" Glen blinked. He hadn't realised he'd spoken aloud. He made an innocent face, really, he hadn't meant to say that out loud. But why the heck was Harry that interested in the snake anyway. … Now, wait a minute. "Is _he_ the guy who can talk to snakes?"

The second he saw the light in Lynn's eyes, he groaned inwardly. He should have just kept his mouth shut.  
"Really? You can talk to snakes? Show us. Pleeeeaaaaase?" She made puppy dog eyes. She was good at those, especially since most people figured she made them unintentionally. And hey, sometimes she did. But she also used them to her advantage if need be.

Apparently Draco realised that he had no chance as only sighed and went to fetch that darn snake. Though Lynn had to admit, it was kinda cute… for a snake.  
After a question from Cassie about what they meant, Harry started explaining something about imitating the sounds from his early childhood on till now – Glen had the feeling he was lying and even to Lynn it was obvious that he was hiding something even though she was only listening with half an ear.

Lynn started when Myrtle suddenly started hissing and even more when Harry hissed something back. Wicked.

Glen and Cassie on the other hand, noticed the weird reaction the other three, well, mainly Draco and Blaise had. Was that fear? For a moment Glen could have sworn that there was pure terror in their eyes, but it was gone too fast for him to be sure he'd seen anything let alone to be sure of what he'd seen.

"This is so cool!" This time, Lynn's enthusiasm was completely genuine. Not that she faked it normally, she just exaggerated a bit sometimes – mainly because it annoyed her roomies. (But she only did that because she knew that they didn't really mind.)

After listening for a while – not that she really believed he could actually converse with the snake, but it was still wicked – she had an idea and asked Harry a question to translate.

And then the snake nodded. Nodded!

After that, she obviously had to have him translate back and fro.

Glen figured that it was a cool party trick but not much more than that – he didn't believe in all that doctor doolitle stuff. He would bet anything though, that Cassie was thinking if she could introduce Harry and her brother. He didn't really think it would do any good, but… there's always hope, right?

When Harry translated 'bluyong', Lynn was pretty sure he was just making this stuff up. The other two were now more inclined to actually believe him… still, they didn't. Not really, anyway.

At least twenty minutes passed that way until Cassie left for the toilet and saw a glimpse of dessert on her way back.

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**AN2: **Well, that's that.  
Thank you for reading :)

...By the way, I just realised... this thing is longer than the original chapter o_O


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